Business Emails British English Teacher

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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS SITUATIONS · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
BUSINESS
EMAILS
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1 Warm up
Read and answer these questions in pairs or small groups.
1. How often do you check your emails?

2. Do you send emails regularly?
3. Do you think it is important to reply to emails quickly after you receive them? Why/why not?
4. Do you prefer sending text messages or emails? Why?
5. Are emails useful or important to you? Why/why not?
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PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
BUSINESS EMAILS
Now, complete the table with the phrases in the box.
In pairs, discuss the following questions.
1. What’s the difference between yours sincerely and yours faithfully?
2. What is the difference between To Whom It May Concern, and Dear Sir/Madam,?
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BUSINESS EMAILS
2 Know the rules

Read the rules of writing business emails and letters. Underline the correct option in each one.
1. Double-check you have spelt the person’s name incorrectly / correctly.
2. If you have met the person you are writing to, or have written to the person lots of times before,
it is usually OK to write in formal / informal English.
3. If you have not met the person or are not sure of your relationship, use formal / informal English.
4. If you are sure that you are writing to a man, but you have never met him and it is a formal situation,
start the letter with Dear Sir / Mr.
5. If you are sure that you are writing to a woman, but you have never met her and it is a formal
situation, start the letter with Dear Mrs / Madam.
6. Use Dear Ms / Lady + her family name if you are writing to a woman in a formal situation.
7. Use Dear Sir / Mr + his family name if you are writing to a man in a formal situation.
3 Reasons for writing

There can be many reasons for writing a business email, such as wanting to ask or give something.
Write the following verbs in the correct box in the table.
enquire / inform / apply / notify / tell / request / offer
Asking for something Giving something

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
BUSINESS EMAILS
Now underline the correct verb in the following introductions. There may be more than one correct
answer.
1. I am writing to inform / request / ask a brochure of your latest products.
2. I am writing to apply / request / tell for the position of Senior Manager which was recently
advertised online.
3. I am writing to enquire / notify / apply you of my intention to visit Vienna as I hope to be able to
meet you.
4. I am writing to tell / enquire / offer about the price of your recently advertised software.
5. I am writing to inform / offer / tell you about our new range of healthcare products coming out
this year.
6. I am writing to ask / notify / request a meeting with you during next Thursday.
4 Useful phrases
Underline the correct words in the following phrases.
1. Your company was recommend / recommended to me.
2. I’m writing with regarded / regard to your recent email.
3. due to previous / early commitments.
4. I’m writing to enquiring / enquire about...
5. I hope to hear from you in the near / far future.
6. I would be grateful if you could meeting / meet with me
7. ...at / in your convenience
8. I’m scared / afraid I am unavailable

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
BUSINESS EMAILS
Now use these phrases to replace the underlined informal phrases in the following emails.
5 Correcting mistakes
It’s very important to check your writing before sending in a business situation. Read the following
email and find 10 mistakes with grammar, spelling or punctuation.

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
BUSINESS EMAILS
Write the correct version in the list below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
6 Writing emails
Choose two tasks from the list below.
1. Write to arrange a meeting with a colleague for next week to talk about your presentation.
2. Write to a website designer you have worked with before to ask for some information about her
prices.
3. Write to your manager to see if you can arrange a meeting to talk about your project.
4. Reply to a customer who has written to you asking for information about your products.
5. Reply to a colleague who has asked for help with the work they are doing and wants to arrange a
meeting.
6. Reply to a supplier who wants to arrange a meeting with you to talk about their new products.

HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
BUSINESS EMAILS
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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
TEACHER MATERIALS · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)
BUSINESS EMAILS
Key
1. Warm up
This gives a gentle introduction to the subject and allows students to start thinking about the topic.
10 mins.
This allows students to order typical phrases used in both formal and informal emails. Allow students to work
together if needed and to discuss their answers. You should ask students to pay close attention to where the
punctuation is.
Answers to the table:
Starting an email:
Formal → Dear Sir/Madam,; To Whom It May Concern,; Dear Mr Jones,
Informal → Hi Sam,; Hi there!; How’s it going?
Ending an email:
Formal → Yours faithfully,; Yours sincerely,; With best wishes,; Kind regards,; Many thanks,
Informal → Catch you later,; See you soon!; Cheers,; Love,
1. Yours faithfully, is typically used at the end of an email that is addressed to someone whose name we do not
know, often if it starts with Dear Sir/Madam, or To Whom It May Concern,. Yours sincerely, is used when addressing
someone whose name we know, but we have not met – particularly if writing to them for the first time.
2. To Whom It May Concern, is used when the email may be read by a number of people who we don’t know.
For example, when writing a reference for someone for a job, or addressing a board in a formal situation. Dear
Sir/Madam, is used when addressing one person whose name we do not know. Do be aware though that there
may be people who consider themselves non-binary, so care should be taken to make sure that this is not the case,
as, in the case of applying for a job for example, use of the phrase may indicate the person is lacking awareness
of diversity. If in any doubt, use To Whom It May Concern, as this is non-gender specific.
2. Know the rules
5 mins.
This allows students to discuss and pinpoint when to use certain terms of address. You may want to note that
Miss. and Mrs. Are also terms of address for females. With Miss. it is generally for unmarried women under 30.
Mrs. is used with women who are married. However, care should be taken that you know what address they
prefer as using the wrong one can cause annoyance. Ms. is safe for both. Students should be advised to check
which the person they are addressing prefers if at all possible.
1. correctly 2. informal 3. formal 4. Sir

5. Madam 6. Ms 7. Mr
3. Reasons for writing
10 mins.
This expands the verbs that students can use outside of the A2/B1 range. It gets them to consider the reason for
writing and to state that immediately as it is generally considered good practice to do so.
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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
BUSINESS EMAILS
When the students have put the verbs into the correct place in the table, you may want to point out that all of
the verbs where you are giving something can fit into the following gap: I am writing to ________ you ... The verbs
which are asking for something do not.
1. request 2. apply 3. notify

4. enquire 5. inform and tell 6. request
4. Useful phrases
10 mins.
This asks students to focus on some useful phrases which they can learn and then asks them to connect the
phrases to informal equivalents.
The corrected emails should look as follows:
Dear Mr. Jackson,
(4)I’m writing to enquire about the cost of creating a website. (1)Your company was recommended to me by a
colleague. We need to update and redesign our current website and (6)I would be grateful if you could meet with me
as soon as possible to discuss this. Ideally, we would need to complete the project in the next three months. My
contact details are below.
(5)I hope to hear from you in the near/future.
Yours sincerely,
Joshua Wright
Dear Mr. Wright,

(2)I’m writing with regard to your recent email about our website services. I would be delighted to meet with you
(7) at your convenience, although (8)I’m afraid I am unavailable this week (3) due to previous commitments. Feel
free to call me on the number below and we’ll arrange a meeting for next week.
With best wishes,
George Jackson
1. recommended 2. regard 3. previous 4. enquire

5. near 6. meet 7. at 8. afraid
5. Correcting mistakes
10 mins.
This gets students to carefully check an email to look for errors. You may want to extend this by asking students
to consider which mistakes they generally make the most often and list them. Ask them to keep these in mind
when writing their own emails at the end.
The mistakes are as follows:
Dear Mr(1), Murray,I’m (2) writng to enquire about the new range of computers in your recent brochure. (3) We’are
considering replacing our current range of laptops with more up to date models and I would like to discuss prices
with you. I (4) had also be interested to (5) know. About the services you provide for internet security and storing
data. I would be (6) greatful if we could schedule a call later this week (7)in your convenience. Unfortunately, I’m
(8)afriad I’m away next week in Germany, so I’ll be unavailable then.
I look forward to (9)hear from you in the near future.
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Learn without forgetting! ii
HEAAADERLOGORIGHT
BUSINESS EMAILS
Yours (10)sincrely,
Edward Rathbone
1. Mr Murray 2. writing
3. We are/We’re 4. I would also ...
5. ...know about... 6. grateful
7. at your convenience 8. afraid
9. hearing 10. sincerely
6. Writing emails
15 mins+
Ask students to choose, write and edit their emails. Be sure to give them feedback on their work. You could
arrange for students to write emails to each other and then reply to them using the correct style of language as
an extension or as part of a computer-aided lesson.
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Business Emails British English Teacher

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HEAAADERLOGORIGHT

BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS SITUATIONS · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

1. How often do you check your emails?

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 1/7

Now, complete the table with the phrases in the box.

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What’s the diﬀerence between yours sincerely and yours faithfully?

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 2/7

2 Know the rules

1. Double-check you have spelt the person’s name incorrectly / correctly.

3 Reasons for writing

enquire / inform / apply / notify / tell / request / oﬀer

Asking for something Giving something

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 3/7

1. I am writing to inform / request / ask a brochure of your latest products.

Underline the correct words in the following phrases.

1. Your company was recommend / recommended to me.

2. I’m writing with regarded / regard to your recent email.

3. due to previous / early commitments.

4. I’m writing to enquiring / enquire about...

5. I hope to hear from you in the near / far future.

6. I would be grateful if you could meeting / meet with me

7. ...at / in your convenience

8. I’m scared / afraid I am unavailable

FOOOOTERLEFT Learn without forgetting! 4/7

FOOOOTERRIGHT Learn without forgetting! 5/7

Write the correct version in the list below.

Choose two tasks from the list below.

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2. Know the rules

1. correctly 2. informal 3. formal 4. Sir

3. Reasons for writing

1. request 2. apply 3. notify

Dear Mr. Wright,

1. recommended 2. regard 3. previous 4. enquire

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