UNIT 4 BUSINESS EMAILS

Email is one of the most commonly-used forms of communication in the international business
world. It is used extensively within companies to circulate information, requests, results, instructions,
recommendations, minutes of meetings, etc. Email is an effective, rapid and relatively cheap means
of communicating with customers and suppliers, both nationally and internationally. Because of the
brevity, rapidity and relative informality of emails, it is important to check that all information has
been given and that the tone is appropriate.
Layout
The sample emails below show where the following different components appear (though a-g, may
be in a different order depending on the system being used).
a name of the person sending the email
b name of the person/people the email is addressed to
c person/people who will also receive the mail though it is not addressed directly to them
d person /people who will receive a copy without other people knowing
e date (and time)
f information about the content of the email
g files, documents, etc, sent separately rather than included in the actual message or body of the
email
h opening
i body of the email
j closing
k name and job title
Language styles
Emails are usually shorter than other forms of communication and the language is simple and
concise.
The tone for emails to superiors or people outside the company should be formal. But
‘in-house’ emails between colleagues can be semi-formal.
When replying to mails, it is important not to reply simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to questions without referring
back to the question and not to use pronouns out of context. However, if returning the sender's
email with your reply, by using ‘Reply’, the sender will have their original to refer to.
Useful phrases
Opening and closing
For semi-formal emails, Hello and Hi are common openings and Best wishes or All the best are often
used to dose.
When writing to several people, you can address the group, e.g. Dear Project Managers
Formal emails, like letters, start with Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Mr/Ms X and close with Yours sincerely
or Yours faithfully as appropriate (see Sample Letters below.
Exchanging information
Could you mail me the sales figures for last month by 4pm?
Here is the brochure on the new product you asked for (see attachment).
I'm sending you the board's recommendations with this mail.
Please note that today's appraisal meetings have been cancelled. They will be rescheduled for the
same times next Monday.
Just to let you know, I sent the attached minutes of Tuesday's Production meeting to all the
participants.
Replying to emails
Thank you for your mail.
I got your mail, thanks.
Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday but…
Re your request for last month's sales figures...
I couldn't open the attachment you sent —please resend it as soon as you can...
Thanks for the information about the appraisal meetings. I’ll make a note of it.
Sample emails: Show where the following different components appear on the email.
Formal
From: Michael Hart: Despatch Assistant
To: Rachid Akkouch
Cc: Ray Hopper, Despatch Manager, Pascal Winterbottorn, Accounts Department
Bcc: Jo Berry, Sales Manager
Sent: 3 June 2014 09:47
Subject: Re: Delivery delay
Attachment: Contract
Dear Mr Akkouch
Thank you for your mail. I have checked to find out why your order hasn't been delivered and it
seems we haven't received payment yet. I am sending you a copy of our contract, which states that
all payments must be made in advance. Please accept our apologies for any misunderstanding. If you
wish to cancel your order, please let me know ASAP.
Yours sincerely
Michael Hari
Dispatch Assistant .
Semi-formal
From: Pat White, Sales Manager
To: Kim Potter, Sue Young, Harry Taylor, Jacques Benoist
Cc: Val Murrey, Managing Director
Sent: 3 February 2004 11:08
Subject: Email overload
Hi Everyone
Apparently, complaints have been made to Mr Murrey about the unnecessary quantity of emails
currently circulating in the company. The finance and production departments in particular feel that
much of their time is wasted reading mails that do not directly concern them, It has also been
brought to Mr Murrey's attention that we in Sales are the chief offenders!
I recognise that I am partly to blame as I did ask you to keep the other departments informed of our
activities, I would now ask you, however, only to cc in other members of staff on communications
which are of direct concern to them.
I know I can rely on your co-operation in this matter.
Best wishes
Pat
Practice makes perfect
Practice 1-a Writing formal and informal register: Your local Chamber of Commerce has asked you to
give a talk at an important business event on a subject of your choice. Complete each gap in this
invitation using the most suitable words or expressions (a, b or c) below.
From 1Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
Subject Business Today' event
Dear ...,
………………..1 you that the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is organising a special event from
17 to 20 November on the subject of 'Business Today'.
…………………..2 if you could ……………………..3and give a talk to the local business community on a
topic of your choice. We expect local businesspeople and dignitaries to be present, including the
Minister of Business and Innovation.
If you …………………4 participate in this prestigious event, ……………………….5 confirm your attendance
and the subject of your talk no later than 31 August. ………………………..6 a speaker's proposal
form…………………….7 whether you wish to come to the charity dinner that will be held on the last
day of the conference? ……………….8 any further details, please …………………9 to contact me.
…………………….10 forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Gloria Patterson
Events Manager, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
1 a) I'm writing to tell b) I am writing to inform c) I'd like to tell
2 a) We'd be so happy b) It would be great c) We would be delighted
3 a) attend b) come along c) make it
4 a) want to b) wish to c) feet like
5 a) would you mind b) can you please c) I would be grateful if you could
6 a) Please find attached b) I'm attaching c) Here's
7 a) Please tell me b) I'd also like to know c) Could you also let me know
8 a) If you want b) If you need c) Should you require
9 a) just b) do not hesitate c) don't hesitate
10 a) Looking b) I'm looking c) I look

Practice 1b
Now write a reply accepting the invitation, but requesting more information, e.g. ask about the event
details. Use formal or semi-formal language.

Practice 2a: Writing: effective e-mails

Read these e-mail writing tips. Do you agree with them? What other tips would you add? What do
you think are your own strengths and weaknesses when writing e-mails?
1 Make sure that the language is clear and concise.
2 Keep the sentences and paragraphs short, so your message is easy to read.
3 Maintain a polite tone. Even in the briefest messages include an opening greeting and a polite
ending, e.g. Best wishes.
4 Use a subject header that relates to the content of the e-mail. Don't leave it blank.
5 Get to the point quickly. Emphasise key information and any action that is required.
6 Show consideration for the recipient and make requests politely, e.g. / realise this is a busy time for
you, but could you ...
7 Give all the relevant background information that the recipient will need.
8 Personalise your e-mail to establish a good rapport, even if you have never met the recipient in
person.
9 Proofread your message. Check that your spelling and grammar are correct.
10 Think about the impression your writing style will give the recipient.
Practice 2B: To what extent does this e-mail follow the advice in Practice 2a?
From: Al Gardiner
Subject: FYI Database training via teleconference

Dear Caroline and Markus,

I'm writing to confirm what we agreed during our discussion about the training earlier today. Markus
is responsible for leading the first session and he will send the agenda to participants. The main task
of the session is to determine what the staff already know about the database and decide how many
days of training are required. Markus should briefly explain the course objectives. I have attached
these here. He can then interview each participant, finding out what their individual needs are. The
time and date of the second session need to be agreed with the participants. It is my understanding
that Caroline will be responsible for preparing and leading the second session. BTW I suggest that
Caroline also introduces herself in the first session.
I'd be very grateful if you could confirm that these details are all correct.
Best wishes,
Al

Practice 2c: Look at these two situations and write an e-mail in response to each one. Decide which
e-mail needs to be more formal and which can be less formal. Use some expressions from Practice
2B to help you.
1 You work for a company where everyone is on first- 2 You manage a team of 10 staff. You are organising
name terms. You've heard something about a Staff interviews for the annual staff appraisals to discuss
Development Day on 14 May; you might like to employees' performance and professional
attend, but you don't have any details about the development. Send an e-mail to the team about this
event (e.g. focus, activities, length, participants, topic and ask them to reply, giving you three options
trainer(s) and location). You also have a meeting for dates and times (in order of preference) when
scheduled for that morning. Write to Pat Fischer, the they can attend a session of about 90 minutes next
Human Resources Manager, asking for more month. Attach a staff feedback form to complete and
information. Find out if you need to attend the whole return to you within 14 days. Remember to include a
day. Remember to include a subject line. subject line.
Practice 3A : Complete this e-mail with a word or short phrase in each gap.
From: Annabel Harper
Subject: Invitation: Hosting Effective Webinars
Dear Carla,
I 1……………….invite you to 2………. a training session on Hosting Effective Webinars. This session will be
delivered online, so that you can join us from the comfort of your living room, office or hotel!
The main purpose of the session 3……… provide you with the knowledge and skills required to
effectively deliver professional training online using the Webex software.
Please find 4…………. an outline of the training.
This session will be 5…………. on:
Wednesday September 1st 11.00-12.30 (EST) 16.00-17.30 (GMT)
If you would like to attend, 6………….. me know by return e-mail.
For those of you who wish to 7……………… this training, but are unable to at this date/ time, please
respond that you are interested and I will add your name to a session to be held later in the year (date
TBC).
If you have 8………….. with regards to this training, 9………………. to contact me.
Look 10…………………. to meeting you online.
Best regards,
Annabel
Practice 3B: Write a reply to the e-mail in Practice 3A.
• Thank Annabel for the invitation.
• Explain briefly why you cannot do the training on that day.
• Request information about the later session.
• Ask what the technical requirements are in order to do the online training (e.g. a webcam).
Practice 4: Complete the e-mail with words and phrases from the list.
and then, as-per, but of course, however, I'm afraid this, in addition, let's, looking forward
To: Rolix.HR@dunanet.hu
Subject: Screening candidates
Hello Nora,
1 …………your instructions, we have screened all 18 consultants who expressed interest in retraining
our Accounts personnel and submitted a project proposal……………….. 2 shortlisted three.
......................3 meet as soon as you can make it to discuss their profiles and assess the suitability of
their proposals together.
………………….4 won't be particularly straightforward as all three show a thorough understanding of
our needs and a clear picture of what the outcome of the consultancy would be.
…………………5, their referees are unanimous in praising their ability to diagnose problems, present
workable solutions, and implement those solutions effectively.
………………..6, they do differ noticeably with regard to the fees they charge.
……………………7, I don't want to influence your decision too much at this stage!
…………………8 to your reply.
Yours,
Bert
Practice 5A : Email (n)etiquette.
Avoiding conflict in e-mails: Does your company or organisation have a training programme on ‘e-
mail netiquette'? What would such a course deal with? Do you think it would be useful? Why? / Why
not?
Practice 5B : How would you answer these questions? Listen to Rob Giardina, an intercultural
communications consultant. Does he mention the same points as you?
1 Why are there sometimes problems and misunderstandings when people write e-mails to each
other?
2 What can you do to avoid these misunderstandings?
3 What can you do to solve the problem when there's obviously a conflict?
Practice 5AC: Work in pairs to rewrite these e-mails so that they sound more polite and neutral in
tone. Student A, rewrite e-mails 1-3; Student B, rewrite e-mails 4-6. Then exchange your e-mails
and write your replies.

1 Hello everyone. I must have an update on all your projects for a departmental report ASAP.
2 Hi guys, Samira wants a meeting on Tuesday morning at 10.00. Plan on being there. This meeting
is very important!
3 CAN YOU SEND ME THE MONTHLY FIGURES ASAP??? OR EVEN SOONER ;-)
4 I'm extremely busy and I just don't have time to deal with this right now!!!!!
5 Hi, guys. What the *$#@ is happening with that %*@& product presentation?
6 You don't understand. I was simply asking you to follow up with them and report back to me.

Practice 6: Rewrite this e-mail so that it sounds more polite and neutral in tone.
To: All staff
cc: Managing Director
Re: Sick joke

Hi everyone
Whoever was responsible for 'borrowing' one of the projectors, can you pls return it ASAP!!! I was
really annoyed this morning when I'd previously booked PRO-5 but ended up spending half an hour
looking for it just before I was supposed to be presenting this quarter's office expenses. You are all
perfectly aware that such equipment is COMPANY PROPERTY and should only be used ON THE
COMPANY PREMISES by IT technicians and managers, like yours truly.
If no one owns up by the end of the week, we have ways of finding out ...
You know who you are!!
Office Manager

Practice 7: ELLIPSIS i.e. missing out words in texts

Add the words which have been left out of this e-mail. Would you include them if you were writing
the e-mail? Why? / Why not?
To: Martin Blake
cc: Sylvia Carlyle
Re: Employee performance data

No need to thank me for doing the slides. Thanks for the corrections. Great that you picked up on my
typos!
Was wondering if there's any chance of you cleaning up the employee performance data by Friday?
Really busy this week — in Vienna. Sorry. Richard's been asking for it. Owe you one ...
Looking forward to catching up with you guys Monday morning. Any idea what time and where?
Speak soon
BW
Sylvia
Practice 7: Email correction: Find and add the 11 missing words in this e-mail.
Dear Eugeneia
I'm writing to confirm what discussed in our meeting. Thanks again for taking the time to see me at
such short notice.
We're pleased offer you our Moroccan Mist body spray at €9.50 per 30m1. I've also made a note that
you may be interested stocking the complete Spa Gift pack in Dionysius department stores in the
future — subject to confirmation.
As discussed, our usual payment terms are 30 days from date of invoice. As delivery, I'd like to point
that it is completely free on your first order. But we do charge for deliveries of fewer than 50 items
on any subsequent orders.
Please find a copy of our terms of agreement, including details of our sale-or-return policy. In the
unlikely event that you, or your customers, are not fully satisfied with our products, please let me
know soon as possible.
Finally, I'd be grateful if could confirm your first order in writing by Thursday in order to ensure
prompt delivery next month. In case you need any more information our product range or
promotional offers, please don't hesitate to contact.
Looking forward doing business with you.
Regards
Sebastian
Practice 8: You work in the accounts office at Dunbarry Jewellers. Use these prompts to write an e-
mail reminder to Max Bryson at Carswell.
Date: 30 July
Subject: Final payment reminder
Dear Mr Bryson
writing / inform / despite earlier requests / payment, invoices no. BJ1728 / €2,915 / 13 June / and
BJ1735 / €2,670 /22 June/ unpaid. Please / attached copies / invoices / information. / you know, /
agreed payment terms 130 days / date of invoice.
In view / good commercial relationship / past, / like / resolve / matter amicably. We ask / settle /
account within five working days. In / event / you / already paid / invoices, / ignore / reminder.
If there / problem / goods which has caused / withhold payment, I contact / immediately / telephone
number below, / that we can resolve / issue.
Should / fail / pay this invoice / stated date, then / may have / no alternative / review / account / us,
which means / that we will / longer / able / supply / company /jewellery.
Best regards
Practice 8a Write a reply to this email.
Practice 9A: Spot the errors and Correct email. Find and correct the 12 wrong words in this e-mail.
Dear Mrs Boyle
We are writing to advice you that, despite our previous requests, payment remains overstanding on
invoice no. AU10-0093911 for €358. Our records also indicate that payment is now debited on
invoice no. AU10-0096745 for €260. Please find adjoined copies of both invoices for your
information.
We would like to recall you that our agreed payment terms are 60 days from date of invoice.
Therefore, we would be grateful if you could give this thing your urgent attention and fix your
account within the next five working days. Unless payment is received by this date, we may have to
consider eradicating your credit terms.
If there is a problem with our goods which is causing you to evade payment, please contact us
immediately in order to solve this issue.
In the circumstances that you have already paid these invoices, please accept our apologies and
regard this message.
Best wishes
Olga Antipova
Practice 9B: Write an e-mail to Olga Antipova. Include these points.
• Introduce yourself and explain that you are now doing Mrs Boyle's job.
• Say you have paid invoice AU10-0093911 today by bank transfer.
• Apologise for the delayed payment and give a reason.
• Mention that you have not yet received the goods in the second invoice.
• Ask when you can expect to receive the goods.
• Request they cancel the second invoice and issue a new one when the goods are delivered.
Practice 10: Formal and informal email
A Match the informal phrases 1-6 with the formal phrases a—f.
1 Because of ... a) Please find enclosed
2 Can you tell us more about ... ? b) Please let us know your exact requirements.
3 Here are c) We regret to inform you that ...
4 I've got some bad news. d) Owing to ,.. e) We are pleased to inform you
5 What exactly do you need? that ,..
6 I've got some good news, f) We would be grateful if you could send us
further information about ...
B
The e-mail below is inappropriate because it uses an informal writing style. Rewrite it completely
using the formal phrases in the box to replace the underlined items.
attend the event
if you could confirm your talk at your earliest convenience
We are writing to inform you
With best wishes
We would be honoured
Please do not hesitate to contact me
We realise this is a topic close to your own heart
should you require further details
We would be extremely grateful

From: Frances Reynolds

To: Dieter Fuchs
Date: 18th September
Subject: Conference: Beyond Culture Shock

Dear Mr Fuchs.
This is just to let you know 1 that the Chamber of Commerce in Birmingham is hosting a one-day
event early next month on the subject of 'Beyond Culture Shock'.
We know this is the kind of stuff you are interested in 2 following the recent merger of the Savings
Bank of Salzburg with the Midlands Savings Bank and the intercultural issues that subsequently
arose. It would be great 3 if you could come 4 and give a plenary talk to the business community at
large.
Thanks in advance 5 for letting us know as soon as possible if you can make it 6. Please find attached
a speaker's proposal form. Just get in touch with me 7 if you need more information 8.
All the best 9,
Frances Reynolds
Events Manager
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
franreynolds@msb.co.uk
Practice 11: Write a formal email
A The tone of a formal email is similar to a business letter. However, as with all emails, the
information should be concise. Match the functions 1-6 to the parts of the email a-f.
1 Bullet point or list information, 2 Offer further assistance, 3 State when you made contact, 4 Say
why you are writing, 5 Insert clear subject sentence, 6 Clarify any attachments
To: claudia.hanson@vendas.it
From: KFendz©Autotravel.org
Subject: A Requested Autotravel information
Dear Ms Hanson,
B It was a pleasure to meet you at the Tourism Expo in Milan last week.
C As requested, I am sending information about Autotravel packages. I am sure that this will be of
interest to your company.
The Autotravel package is designed for independent travel agents like yourselves. It will streamline
administrative tasks and improve the booking process for your clients.
D The following information is attached:
E 1. Full details of our services
2. A case study that demonstrates the system in use
3. Our current price list
F If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Karl Fendz
Marketing Director
B Replace the underlined words in the email in exercise A with one of the phrases below.
1 As you expressed an interest in our services
2 Kind regards,
3 Following our conversation
4 Please find
5 Do let me know if you have any queries.
C Every day we send and receive emails. Some are informal emails to friends or colleagues, others
might be more formal emails to potential customers or suppliers. Match the content 1-6 with the
examples a-f. Can you think of more examples? Which of these should you avoid in a formal email?
1 Abbreviations A Yours sincerely, / Regards,
2 Salutation B Here's some blue sky thinking for you.
3 Contractions C
4 Jargon D I'm writing to see if you've
5 A formal ending E FYI (for your information)
6 Emoticons F Dear Mr Webb

D In informal emails there is usually less emphasis on correct use of English. However, it is important
to check formal emails before you send them to make sure that they are accurate and that the
punctuation is correct.
Look at the email below and insert paragraphs, capital letters, full stops, commas, bullet points and
a colon.
i am contacting you to confirm that i have paid the course fees for the international finance course
which starts on 18th June if you could send an email confirming that payment has been received i
would be grateful could you also send the following before the start of the course term dates travel
directions pre-course reading list thank you for your help with this matter kind regards
E Write a response to Karl Fendz. Refer to his email. Express interest in the Autotravel package and
request a demonstration. End politely by saying that you look forward to further contact.

Practice 12: Email summarising pie chart data

A Listening: Listen to the Lisa Wright, Head of Company and tick the two pie charts which go with
her presentation.
B Writing: You work in HR and attended Lisa Wright's presentation. Write an email (200-250
words) to your manager who was unable to attend. Choose two pie charts and summarise the
data. You can use headings, bullet points or lists to help you organise information. Draw
conclusions from the pie charts and make recommendations for further research.
Hi Keith,
Here is some information From Lisa's presentation which may be of use when we decide where to
carry out further research. The two main areas of interest are:
Practice 13: Writing a formal email
You are a venture capitalist. Read the notes about a business idea below and decide if you want to
invest and whether you agree with the terms. Write a formal email (200-250 words) to the
inventor to say whether you intend to invest or not and why.
Possible investment?  Ms Vine is an experienced sales manager
Investor: Estelle Vine  Has invested her savings in the project
Product: Investment:
Disposable camera phones Start-up cash for development
 Innovative phone that can be used briefly and and prototype,
then recycled patenting, etc £35,000
 Retail at £25 mins airtime + 12 pics promotion, etc £5,000
 Target market: 18-24 year olds offering 10% of the company in return.
(will use the phone when out for the evening,
travelling etc)
Practice 14: Writing an email
Your manager, Karen Hind, has asked you to look at the possibility of arranging a team building
weekend for your department. You have researched a local company who run outdoor team building
activities. Write an email (000-150 words) to highlight any risks, and describe any safety measures
that are in place. End the email by recommending whether the team building exercise should go
ahead and say whether a formal risk assessment should be carried out.

Notes
Team members on trip: six men, eight women
7 good swimmers, 5 ok swimmers, 2 non-swimmers-
Marshton Outdoor training has agreed on one-to-one support for any non-swimmers
Supplies safety equipement for all activities
Marshton has excellent safety record
Spoke to some of their other clients and they say the organization on the day is good and that staff got a lot
out of it.
Practice 15: Writing email
A: You have started work at a new company and the HR manager has asked you to notify her about
any training that you require. She has given you a brochure which lists the courses that are currently
available. Look at the list of training course below and add two more to the list. Tick three courses
that you think would be most useful to you for your career development.

B
Write an email (150-200 words) to Elly Carr, the HR manager.
• List three training courses that you wish to attend.
• Give reasons why.
• Ask her to confirm if it is possible to attend the courses.
• Ask for information about dates, time and location.
Practice 16
Practice 17
Look at this e-mail from a consultant to a colleague. Rewrite it to make it sound less formal and to
avoid repetition.
Hi Sylvia
I'm sorry I haven't replied to you sooner, but I've been very busy focusing on this client presentation
for the last few days. I am writing to thank you for preparing those slides for me. I went through them
this morning, and everything looks fine to me. There were just a few typos and a missing footnote,
but I've fixed those minor points in the slides. I also left out a couple of the slides with more detailed
figures. You can see the attached slides.
We'll also need to clean up the employee performance data for last quarter. Can I leave it with you to
clean up the data? There's no need to do it immediately, unless you particularly want to do it
immediately. You can just send it to me and Richard by Friday so I can wrap things up for the
presentation. I'm sure he's as interested to see the data as I am interested to see it.
By the way, I'm meeting him on Monday morning for a catch-up. Would you like to join us? It could be
useful.
I'll speak to you soon.
Best wishes
Martin

Practice 18
Put the sentences (a-g) in the correct order to write an-email.
To: Rodrigo Estay
From: Jan Kopke
Subject: Yesterday's meeting
Dear Rodrigo,
a) The subject of employment inevitably provoked a heated argument, and no decision was reached
...
b) The main item on the agenda was, as you know, the proposed relocation to Slovenia.
c) However, in the current economic climate, it was felt that there were more urgent priorities.
d) Most people agreed that this would result in a reduction in costs, and consequently that it would
be good for our profits.
e) The most immediate of these, some argued, is to safeguard employment in our country.
f) … except to postpone the discussion till our next meeting, which I know you won't want to miss.
g) As promised, here's a brief summary of what happened at yesterday's meeting.

Talk soon,
Jan
Practice 19
1 Complete the e-mail below with the words and phrases in the box. You will not need all of them.
are willing, best wishes, faithfully, invited, inviting, meet you, seeing you, sincerely, very much
hope, wanted, would be delighted, would like to

2 Write Mr Ferreira's reply to Erman Bayar.

• Thank Mr Bayar for the invitation.
• Explain briefly what your presentation is about and mention that the abstract is attached.
• Mention your fee.
• Explain why you cannot be there for the second day of the conference.
Practice 20
A reminder for non-payment
You are a credit control manager in APT. You have identified two unpaid accounts: one is five days
late and the other 70 days. You decide to deal with the first one by emailing a first reminder to the
customer.
Usually, your colleague deals with all the international correspondence but she is away for this week
and has left you a few notes. Complete your email reminder below using the following expressions
a—i.
a We appreciate that this delay may be due to a mistake
b We look forward to hearing from you soon
c We would appreciate it if you could
d Invoice no. FG/647/10
e Please find attached
f Best regards,
g could you look into the problem and Inform us of the reason for the delay.
h I am writing with reference to
i We note from our accounts
EMAIL ETIQUETTE
1 Clearly summarize the contents of your message in the subject line, e.g. write `May 23 Project
Management Team Meeting Agenda' rather than just 'Meeting'.
2 Don't use the Cc (carbon copy) function to copy your message to everyone unless you really need
to.
3 Use Bccs (blind carbon copies) when sending a message to a large group of people who don't know
each other.
4 If you normally address a person as Ms / Mrs / Mr _ _ , then that's what you do in a first email; if
you normally call them by their first name, then you do that.
5 Reply to a message, don't start a new email. Keep the 'thread' by leaving the original messages
attached.
6 Keep your messages shorter than a page, so readers don't have to scroll. People reading messages
on cell phones and mobile devices often ignore long messages.
7 If you need someone to give you information or do something for you, be very specific.
8 To communicate very complex information, use the telephone, or face-to-face conversation, rather
than email.
9 AVOID CAPITAL LETTERS - THEY'RE THE EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING IN SOMEONE'S EAR AND
THEY'RE MORE DIFFICULT TO READ.
10 Use capitalization and punctuation the same way that you would in any other document. Don't
over-use exclamation marks!!!!!!
11 Smileys are used in personal emails and are not appropriate for business ;-)
12 There is no such thing as a private email. The system administrator can probably read all mails,
and anyone can easily forward your message, even accidentally.
13 Somewhere in the world there is a hacker who can read your mail if he tries hard enough.
14 Don't write anything you wouldn't say to a person's face or in public or write on the back of a
postcard.
15 If you send it from the office, it comes from the office: personal emails sent from work are
regarded as official company communications, whatever their content.
16 Use the spel chek and re-read you mesage one last time before yoo send it.
Fun quote: "I've located the source of all that annoying, spam, we've been receiving...preparing to
destroy."
Language FOCUS
Formal and informal style 1
when people write emails 2 friends they often use a v informal style. they dont worry much about
speling, using capital letters using correct grammer writing in paragraphs punctuation and so on.
sometimes they use abbrevs like in txt messages. U definitely shouldnt do this when writing bizness
emails
1 Rewrite the email above in correct standard English.
Formal and informal words and phrases
A first email to someone in another company is usually quite formal, like a business letter, but later
emails often become more informal. Internal communication between colleagues is also usually
relatively informal.
English often has a short word of Germanic origin and a longer word of Latin or French origin that
means nearly the same thing. We use the longer words in more formal situations.
2 Match each of the short words (1-6) to one of the longer words (a-f) with a similar meaning.
1 ask a commence
2 begin b obtain
3 buy c enquire
4 get d inform
5 give e purchase
6 tell f provide
Most phrasal verbs also have a one-word Latinate equivalent, which is more formal.
Examples:
We are going to bring in / implement new accounting policies.
You need to look into / investigate these claims.
They are trying to get rid of / eradicate their debts.
Leaving out words
Although spelling and punctuation should usually be correct — an email is not a text message — emails
between friends and colleagues are sometimes written like telegrams used to be, with unnecessary words left
out. The full grammatical form is not necessary if the meaning is clear from the context.
People also often use acronyms (the first letters of words) such as TIA (thanks in advance), asap (as soon as
possible), FYI (for your information), BTW (by the way) and BW (best wishes).
In informal emails, people writing quickly often use short forms of common words: yr, pls, thx or thnx, rgds, re
(your, please, thanks, regards, with reference to). It's worth remembering that using acronyms and short forms
might be considered unprofessional in some business situations, especially when you do not know the person
you are writing to very well.
3 Match the sentences (1-10) to the descriptions (a—e). One of the sentences can be matched to
two descriptions.
1 Flying via New York (would be) quicker.
2 (I'll) Speak to you later.
3 (It's a) Shame you can't come.
4 Their plans (are) uncertain.
5 (Are you) Coming to the meeting?
6 Please get (a) business class ticket and ask for (a) vegetarian meal.
7 (Have you) Finished the report?
8 (I) Told (the) staff about (the) meeting.
9 (That's a) Good idea!
10 (I) Hope you've finished the report.
a The subject I and auxiliary verbs (be, have, will) can sometimes be left out.
b The subject you and the auxiliary can sometimes be left out of questions.
c The words that and it, and forms of the verb be can sometimes be left out.
d The verb be and a modal verb can sometimes be left out.
e The articles the and a can sometimes be left out.
Useful phrases
You will probably recognize some of the typical email phrases below, even with their words in the
wrong order. Rewrite them correctly, adding capital letters and punctuation where needed.
1 if get back any problems to me there are
2 week next I forward you seeing to look
3 I'm report attachment sending the as an
4 there's me know if anything can let do I
5 form complete the asap attached please return it and
6 for thanks help in advance this in matter your
7 confirm call just is our to this phone
8 forgot to the sorry add I attachment!
Vocabulary
The words and phrases in the box are used to talk about email and web addresses. Match them to
the symbols (1-10].
at, colon, dot, slash, underscore, capital (letter), dash, lower case, small (letter), upper case
1. 6_
2: 7 ABC
3 abc 8a
4A 9–
5/ 10 @

Fun Quote: "You should check your e-mail more often. I fired you over three weeks ago."
YAHIAOUI©, Sorbonne Nouvelle.
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