When you first start working in English or with English-speaking clients, you probably want to know how to write a professional email in English. The general rules are the same as in any other language: have a precise subject line, be polite but straight to the point and don’t use the comic sans font. So far, so good. But what phrases could you use? Let’s have a look.
When you don’t know the recipient well, start with a formal greeting such as, “Dear/Good morning/Good afternoon Mr./Mrs./” and their last name. A less formal greeting would be, “Hello,” and a very informal one would be, “Hi!” Once you know a person a bit better, it is very common to use first names, especially in North America.
In the main body of the text, you can start with, “I hope you’re well,” or, “It was very nice to meet you last week,” to sound friendly or even, “Sorry for my late reply,” if it took you a bit longer than you planned to get back to that person. Then, start to explain why you are writing, for example: “I am writing to you to follow up on our phone conversation yesterday,” or, “I am not sure I fully understand your point about our online sales. Could you please elaborate?” Another helpful phrase is, “Please find our brochure attached to this email,” to make sure the recipient notices the attachment. If you want to thank someone for information that you received, just write: “Thank you for letting me know,” and should you not be sure if your plan is a good idea and you’re looking for confirmation: “Please let me know if this is OK.”
Generally, it is a good idea to use the modals could/would/should to sound more polite, e.g. “Would you mind giving me a call in the next few days?” or “I would appreciate it if you could send me a copy of the report.” The polite way to decline an offer or give bad news would be to start with “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to attend your relaunch party.” You might already have heard the acronym “” which is very direct; in order to sound more polite, you could use “at your earliest convenience.”
A couple of good ways to finish your email could be, “I look forward to hearing from you soon,” or, “If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me,” followed by “Thank you/Best regards/Sincerely,” or a less formal, “Have a great day,” and your name.
Of course these are just a few ideas and not an exhaustive list. It is always a good idea to pay close attention to the emails you receive in English, so you can use them as a model for your own communication. Another idea to help you compose emails more easily would be to save your own templates and adjust them to whatever situation you need them for. To get you started, we have written a few example emails for some common situations. You can find them below this article.
Email example “I’m late.”
Good afternoon Mr. Smith,
I am very sorry to inform you that I will be late for our meeting at 3 pm. Unfortunately, my flight has been delayed and I won’t be able to arrive at your offices before 3:30 pm.
Please let me know if this time works for our meeting or if we need to reschedule.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
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Email example “Accept invitation”
Hello Jillian,
Thank you very much for your invitation to Bob’s retirement party. I’ll be happy to attend!
Have a wonderful day,
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Email example “Asking for more information”
Dear Mrs. Jones,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I don’t fully understand your point about the wholesale discount. Could you please be more specific about the minimums required?
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
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Email example “Follow-up”
Hi Steve,
I hope you had a good weekend. I’m writing to follow up on our last meeting. You mentioned that you would like to order 20 packets of green pens. Are you still interested? Please let me know at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thank you,
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Email example “Getting approval”
Good morning Emma,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I’ve updated the pdf with the information about safety procedures that you asked for; please find it attached. Let me know if this is OK with you.
All the best,
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