E-mail messages

E - mail messages

• E-mails are usually written in a less formal style than letters.
• It is common to start an e-mail with the name of the person you are writing to, without starting with the word "Dear".

Writing to your boy-friend / girl-friend , relative or close friend (informal style)

• Start:

Use the person's first name or nickname

• Ending:

" Take care ", "Love", “Cheers", “See you (then)”, “Speak soon” or "Thinking of you“, + Your first name, or nickname

Writing to a pen-friend (semi-formal style)

• Start:

Use the person's first name

• Ending:

"Best wishes", "Take care", “Stay in touch” or "Yours", + Your first name

Writing to someone in your own company (formal style)

• Start:

Use the person's first name

• Ending:

"Best wishes", or “Regards", + Your first name and last name and below this write your job title and department, and phone number (or extension)

Writing to someone in another organisation or someone in a formal position of responsibility (formal style)

• Start:

Use the person's title (eg: Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr) and surname (eg: Smith), or just "Sir/Madam" if you don't know the name

• Ending:

“ Regards", + Your first name and last name (you might add your title after this in brackets if you want to make it clear if you are a man or woman) and below this write your job title (if appropriate) and contact details (you may want to include your telephone number or address)

DOs and DON’Ts (semi-formal style)

• DOs:

• Use an informative subject line, which says what the email is about.
• Write the most important information first.
• Use numbers and bullet points to make the message clearer.
• Use simple grammar. Avoid the passive voice.
• Write short sentences.
• Use paragraphs to keep the email clear and easy to understand

DOs and DON’Ts (semi-formal and formal styles)

• DON’Ts:

• Write ‘hello’ as your subject line.
• Give personal information that you don’t want anyone else to know. (The email could end up in the wrong hands)
• Use capital letters to write whole words as in emails, this is considered shouting.
• Use different fonts in the email (the recipient’s computer may not be compatible)
• Use talics (the reason may be misunderstood, due to cultural differences).
• Use exclamation marks.
• Use abbreviations like coz and uni , as the recipient may not understand them. Use acronyms like BTW for the same reason.
• Use smileys. They may be misunderstood and come across as unprofessional.

Sample e-mail to your relative or close friend (informal style)

From: Matt Greenfield

Sent: 22 January 2014 14:09

To: John Stewart

Subject: Holidays and stuff

Hi John ‘n’ Pat

Had a great time in Turkey – nice people, nice hotel, good food, perfect weather, interesting trips. Only real prob was flights – both delayed more than 2 hours. Got home last night at 1 a.m. Glad you had a good time with Pete, Chris and others. Getting together – great idea but Tuesdays aren’t good for us – how about Wednesday 29 th ?

See you soon

Cheers

Matt and Tina

BTW Hope you enjoy Egypt.

Acronyms used to save time in informal e-mails

• An acronym is a set of initials which people use to save time.

• AFK - Away from keyboard
• BBL - Be back later
• BTW - By the way
• BRB - Be right back
• FYI - For your information
• IMO - In my opinion
• LOL - Laughing out loud
• TU - Thank you
• TTFN - Ta Ta for now (Goodbye)
• WB - Welcome back
• OMG – Oh my God

Let’s have some practice!

• Rewrite this formal e-mail using informal language:

Dear Matthew

I am writing to thank you for attending our meeting yesterday. In my opinion, it was very useful. We are sure you will enjoy working with Debbie and John.

I will be in touch again soon.

With best wishes,

Jenny

Sample e-mail to someone in another organisation or someone in a formal position of responsibility (formal style)

To : [email protected]

Sent: 22 January 2014 14:09

From : [email protected]

Subject : Meeting About New Internet Service Provider

Mr. Jones,

I have been researching our choices for internet providers over the past week, and I wanted to update you on my progress. We have two options: H.C. Cable and Toll South. Both offer business plans, and I will go over the pricing of each plan at the meeting on Tuesday. Both of the options I listed have comparable speed and data usage offerings as well. I called your personal provider, GoGo Satellite, but they did not have any business offerings. They primarily do residential internet service.

I will talk with Joe and Susan in IT about these options and get their suggestions. I will also send out meeting requests to everyone, including Mr. Morris in operations. If you have any questions prior to the meeting, please let me know.

Respectfully,

Tina McAden

Administrative Assistant

Jones Office Solutions

http://www.jonesofficesolutions.com

(555) 124-5678

Replying to a previous e-mail and giving brief updates (semi-formal style)

• Replying to a previous email:

• Thanks for the information.
• Thanks for your phone call.
• Thanks for getting me the figures.

• Giving brief updates:

• Just a quick note to tell you…
• Just a quick note to let you know…
• Just to update you on…

Referring to an attachment and changing plans (semi-formal style)

• Referring to an attachment:

• Take a look at the attached file.
• Have a quick look at the file I've attached about…
• Thought you might find the attached interesting.

• Changing plans:

• Sorry, but I can't make the meeting tomorrow.
• Sorry, but I won't be able to meet you next week.
• Sorry, but something has come up and I can't meet you for lunch.