This guide is designed to help your student write clear and professional emails. It covers different types of business emails such as responding to clients, following up from meetings, declining offers, scheduling, cancelling, giving bad news and politely saying no.
At the end there is also a worksheet you can give your student for homework covering common writing mistakes to test their knowledge in their own time.
Writing emails
Greetings
Dear + first name / Dear Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss + surname.
Hi + name (informal)
To whom it may concern
Introducing your subject
I hope this email finds you well. (Then introduce subject.)
Or, get to the subject immediately (many people prefer this option).
I am writing to + subject.
I am contacting you + subject.
Regarding, concerning + subject (this is formal language and usually used after the phrase ‘I am writing.’)
‘I am writing to you regarding the maintenance contract we have with your firm.’
Further to – to tell the recipient you are writing about a previous email, phone call or conversation.
‘Further to our last call, we have confirmed that the project will start on the 8th.’
First and foremost – to introduce your first topic on an email.
‘First and foremost, we would like to congratulate you on your promotion…’
Responding to an email
Thank you for your email/ thank you for contacting us.
Plus:
- Your action: (e.g. ‘We are looking into your case now…’)
- To answer your question…
- In response, we would like to/we can offer you…
‘Thank you for your email. To answer your question, we can give you a refund on your purchase as long as you still have the receipt.’
Attachments
Please find attached + document.
‘Please find attached the document you requested.’
Scheduling
I am writing to schedule a day for the meeting.
I am writing to ask when you would be available to meet.
At your convenience – when it suits the reader.
‘We are available to meet at your convenience.’
Cancelling
To reschedule
Due to unforeseen circumstances – something has interrupted a plan.
‘Due to unforeseen circumstances we have had to cancel the meeting.’
In light of – a formal phrase to say ‘because of.’
‘In light of staff illness, we will be unable to attend the presentation on Monday.’
Follow up emails after a conference call or meeting
It was a pleasure to meet you.
To follow up.
Do not to hesitate + infinitive.
To drop us a line – an informal way of saying ‘please write to us.’
To follow up on our meeting, please find attached detailed plans of our proposal. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.’
Proposals
To quote / to give a quote – the amount of money a job will cost a client.
‘The quote for this work is 7,000 euros. That includes tax.’
To propose / a proposal – the company’s proposed solution to a client’s problem.
‘I have discussed the issue with my colleagues and we propose to build a new software for your company which would…’
A scope of work – all the jobs in the proposal broken down into bullet points.
‘Please find attached the scope of work for this proposed project. You’ll find our quote for the work on the final page.’
Apologising and giving assurances
To be sorry.
Please be assured.
We can assure you.
To look into an issue or matter – to investigate.
‘Thank you for contacting us. We are sorry that you have had a bad experience with our airline. We are looking into the matter now. Please be assured that positive customer experience is our highest priority and we take this matter very seriously.’
Giving bad news
Regretfully, unfortunately…
‘Thank you for your email. Regretfully, there are no positions available at this time.’
To have considered…
‘Thank you for your interest in our company. We have considered your offer carefully, however…’
Politely saying ‘no’
To decline – a formal, polite way to say ‘no’ to invitations, proposals and offers.
‘Thank you for your quote for the work. Unfortunately we have to decline your offer.’
‘Un’ words are also a good way to say ‘no’ without using the word. These include:
To be unavailable.
‘Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, our CEO is unavailable for an interview in the foreseeable future. We thank you for our interest in our company.’
To be unable.
‘Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, we are unable to comply with your request at this time due to…’
To be unfeasible/ not feasible.
‘Thank you for contacting us. Please be assured that we are working to resolve your issue. However, it is not feasible to complete the work by the deadline you have proposed…’
To be unavoidable.
‘The delay was unavoidable due to…‘
Abbreviations
BTW – by the way.
ASAP – as soon as possible.
ATT – attention.
FYI – for your information.
TBD – to be decided.
RSVP – “répondez s’il vous plaît”
Finishing an email.
To be in touch (shortly).
‘We’ll be in touch shortly to resolve this matter.’
To hope + infinitive.
‘We hope to hear back from you soon.’
To look forward to + gerund/noun.
‘We look forward to meeting you next week.’ ‘We look forward to hearing from you.’
Endings
Best wishes, Best regards, Best, Kind regards.
Note: Some students sign off with ‘regards.’ This is normally perceived as cold and should be avoided.
‘Yours sincerely’ is more for formal letters and not emails (but this depends on the context).
Punctuation
Commas
Commas should go after*:
Dear/ Hi + name of person,
The parting line (e.g. ‘We look forward to hearing from you’,)
The final goodbye (e.g. ‘Best regards’,).
Capitalisation
The word on the next line after the greeting and parting comma is always capitalised.
For example:
Dear John,
Concerning your last email…
We’ll be in touch,
Best regards,
Tim
NOTE: *This is important to teach as not all European countries have this system.
Homework
Ask your student to write a 150 word email on one of the following subjects.
- A complaint letter to an airline.
- An apology letter referencing a typical client problem at work.
- A follow up email after a meeting.
- A covering letter for a job interview.
- A letter where the student must politely say ‘no.’
Ask your student to attach the letter in the messages function using the clip icon. Next lesson go through the email together making corrections and suggestions.
For more email ideas, check out this amazing resource from MacMillan.
Andromeda
Andromeda is a Fluentify English tutor. She has been teaching English in Spain and online since 2012. In addition to teaching, she is a TEFL writer. She recently moved to Edinburgh, Scotland and is currently working on her Scottish accent.