Business English Emails

Business Emails

English for emails. You will learn useful language and techniques for writing, organising and checking emails.

Email addresses

• Every email address contains this sign: @  

• Here are some email addresses:

  [e-mail]

  [e-mail]

  [e-mail]

Domain names

• Email addresses often include the name of the country that the address is from.

• This is the final two letters of the address. Here are some examples:

• .af = Afganistan

• .id = Indonesia

• .ma = Morocco

• .se = Sweden

Multiple Choice

Which domain is the correct one?

[e-mail]

• dubai

• germany

• Georgia

• madagaskar

Multiple Choice

Which domain is the correct one?

[e-mail]

• France

• Finland

• Germany

• Fiji

Multiple Choice

Which domain is the correct one?

[e-mail]

• Monaco

• Maldives

• Malta

• Morocco

Multiple Choice

Which domain is the correct one?

[e-mail]

• United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• United States of America (USA)

• United Kingdom (UK)

• Ukraine

Sending and receiving emails

• 2 people in cc are not included in sales team

• 'RE:' in the subject means referring to/regarding to

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the attachment?

• Sales Team

• Meeting next week

• New proposal

Multiple Choice

What does the writer want you to do?

• contact Hatem and Patricia

• read the attachment

• organise a meeting

Multiple Choice

Who has received the email?

• only you

• you and everyone in the Sales Team

• you, everyone in the Sales Team, Hatem Trabelsi and Patricia Bartlett

Multiple Choice

With your email, you can include an ...........(like a photo or document).

• CC

• attachment

• link

• subject

Multiple Select

Write only to Samir.

• Delete

• Forward

• Reply

• Reply to all

Multiple Select

Send an email to Samir, the Sales Team, Hatem and Patricia.

• Forward

• Reply

• Reply to all

Multiple Select

Send the email to another person who has not received it.

• Reply

• Reply to all

• Forward

Multiple Choice

You can include a ..... to a website in your email.

• link

• attachment

• picture

• document

Multiple Choice

If you are sending someone an email, and you want your manager to see it as well, you can .......your manager.

• send

• attach

• CC

• BCC

Multiple Choice

Hello Sanjay,

Could you please send the schedule to Mr Aziz at Bisco Ltd when it is ready?

Please ........... me, so that I have the document as well.

With thanks,

Abdul Qadir

Managing Director

• send

• open

• CC

• attach

Multiple Choice

Dear Mr Prabang,

As we agreed, I am sending the contract as an .......... It is a PDF file.

Please let me know if you have any queries.

Yours,

Andrew Mortimer

• link

• attachment

• document

• file

Multiple Choice

Hi Mustafa,

Here’s a ........ to something I saw today:

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ielts-interview-skills/dont-get-over-emotional.

Watch it if you can – it’s really funny!!!!!!!!

Enjoy!

Hans

• attachment

• page

• link

• address

Multiple Choice

Dear Mrs Piano,

I am interested in applying for the post as Account Manager (ref. 23JS56).

Could you please ........ me further details?

With thanks,

Zara Hussein

• send

• open

• attach

• link

Multiple Choice

Hello everybody,

I must apologise. I gave you the wrong dates for this year’s conference in my email this morning.

So please ....... that email as soon as you can. I will send you the correct dates soon.

Sorry again for the problem.

Pietro

• send

• delete

• CC

• open

Organising your emails

• Most emails that you get go straight to your inbox. This is where you decide which emails to read and which to delete.

• But if your server doesn’t recognise the address of a sender, it will probably put the email in the spam folder. This is where all those annoying adverts usually go. 

• But sometimes good emails go there too, so remember to check from time to time.

Organising your emails

• Do you ever worry because you just deleted an email by mistake? Don’t worry – just look in the trash folder. It’s probably still there.

• Sometimes it can be difficult to find an old email. So why not put them into folders with names you decide to make them easy to find?

Multiple Choice

Adverts and emails from addresses you do not know.

• Junk email

• Trash folder

• Deleted item

• Draft

Starting and finishing emails

• We write a formal email when we want to be polite, or when we do not know the reader very well. A lot of work emails are formal.

• We write informal emails when we want to be friendly, or when we know the reader well. A lot of social emails are informal.

Layout and punctuation

• Starting an email: We normally write a comma after the opening phrase. We start a new line after the name of the person we’re writing to.

• Finishing an email: We normally write a comma after the closing phrase. We start a new line to write our name at the end.

Phrases for starting and finishing

• See the difference!

Multiple Choice

Hairuddin Omar, a maths teacher, has written four emails this morning. Read the opening line of the email and then match it to the correct description.

"Hairuddin emailed all the maths teachers at his school about some training."

• Morning everyone,

  Just thought you might be interested to know that ......

• Dear Sir or Madam,

  Could you please send me .....

• Hi there Rahim,

  Hope you're well. Might be a bit late on Saturday....

• Dear Mr Bakar, I am writing to you because I am worried that .....

Multiple Choice

Hairuddin Omar, a maths teacher, has written four emails this morning. Read the opening line of the email and then match it to the correct description.

"Hairuddin wrote to his friend about their plans to play football at the weekend."

• Morning everyone,

  Just thought you might be interested to know that ......

• Dear Sir or Madam,

  Could you please send me .....

• Hi there Rahim,

  Hope you're well. Might be a bit late on Saturday....

• Dear Mr Bakar, I am writing to you because I am worried that .....

Multiple Choice

Hairuddin Omar, a maths teacher, has written four emails this morning. Read the opening line of the email and then match it to the correct description.

"Hairuddin sent an email asking for more information about a conference. He did not know the name of the person who will read his email."

• Morning everyone,

  Just thought you might be interested to know that ......

• Dear Sir or Madam,

  Could you please send me .....

• Hi there Rahim,

  Hope you're well. Might be a bit late on Saturday....

• Dear Mr Bakar, I am writing to you because I am worried that .....

Multiple Choice

Hairuddin Omar, a maths teacher, has written four emails this morning. Read the opening line of the email and then match it to the correct description.

"Hairuddin emailed a man called Norozan Bakar, the father of a pupil at the school. He wanted to know why Mr Bakar’s son was absent from school."

• Morning everyone,

  Just thought you might be interested to know that ......

• Dear Sir or Madam,

  Could you please send me .....

• Hi there Rahim,

  Hope you're well. Might be a bit late on Saturday....

• Dear Mr Bakar, I am writing to you because I am worried that .....

Multiple Select

Which phrases are an appropriate way to end a formal email?

• Yours faithfully,

• With best regards,

• For your information,

• Yours sincerely,

• For Attention Of:

Multiple Select

Which phrases are an appropriate way to end an informal email?

• Regards,

• Bye for now,

• Hi again,

• See you soon,

Multiple Choice

Dear Mr Cruz,

Please find enclosed an application form for the post of Teacher of History. ..............................for this job.

The deadline is March 24.

Yours sincerely,

J Ko, School Administrator

• I look forward to meeting you.

• I look forward to receiving your application for this job.

• I look forward to hearing from you soon.

• I look forward to working with you.

Multiple Choice

Hello Hiroshi,

I can phone you on Thursday at 10:30 am. Can you let me know if that is convenient, please? ....................................................

Regards, Jack

• I look forward to meeting you.

• I look forward to receiving your application for this job.

• I look forward to hearing from you soon.

• I look forward to working with you.

Multiple Choice

Dear Mrs Kapusta,

I am writing to confirm our appointment in my office on Tuesday January 28.

Please report to Reception when you arrive, and they will direct you to my office. I hope you have a safe journey here, and .....................on Tuesday.

• I look forward to meeting you.

• I look forward to receiving your application for this job.

• I look forward to hearing from you soon.

• I look forward to working with you.

Multiple Choice

Dear Jackie,

Congratulations on getting the job.

My team in the International Office and I would like to welcome you to Bakewell University.

I am sure you will enjoy your new role.

..................................

Best wishes,

Ewa

Ewa Jones – Director, International Office – Bakewell University

• I look forward to meeting you.

• I look forward to receiving your application for this job.

• I look forward to hearing from you soon.

• I look forward to working with you.

MAKING ARRANGEMENTS

common phrases used to make plans by email

Useful questions for making arrangements:

• Are you free next Tuesday afternoon?

• What time would you like to meet?

• When would be convenient for you?

• Could you please let me know?

Expressions of time

• Use on with days: Could we meet on Monday?

• Use in with months, years and other expressions: I'm going to visit my grandparents in October.

• Use at with times and other expressions: Could you please call me at 3pm?

• Use next to refer to future times: I hope we can meet again next week.

• Use when to start a future time clause: Let's meet again when it is convenient.

Tenses

• To speak about a timetable, use the present simple: Next term runs from 1 September until 16 December.

• To speak about a future arrangement, use the present continuous: Mr Toshiko is coming to our next meeting.

• To speak about a plan, use 'be going to': Next term we are going to learn about pollution.

Multiple Choice

What time would you like .........?

• convenient for you

• next Saturday

• to meet

• to seeing you tomorrow

Multiple Choice

Dear Mr Roberts,

I will come and collect you from London Heathrow Airport next Tuesday.

......................................

I look forward to meeting you next week.

Regards,

Sheila Fiston

• Could you let me know your arrival time?

• Could you let me know the address?

• Could you let me know your availability?

• Could you let me know the price?

Multiple Choice

Dear Mrs Haniss,

We would like to offer you some part-time work next term.

..............................

Are you free on Thursday mornings?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Ruth Gaddon

(Head Teacher)

• Could you let me know your arrival time?

• Could you let me know the address?

• Could you let me know your availability?

• Could you let me know the price?

Multiple Choice

Hello again Atoshi,

I would like to post the documents to your office, but I do not have your work address.

...........................................

As soon as I have it, I will send them to you.

With thanks,

Jose Gutiérrez

• Could you let me know your arrival time?

• Could you let me know the address?

• Could you let me know your availability?

• Could you let me know the price?

Organising your writing

The people you write to will understand well-organised emails much more easily.

Writer purpose

• When you write an email, you need to make clear why you are writing.

• You can do this by using the phrase 'I am writing to (+ verb)' at the start of your email.

Paragraphs

• Emails are easier to read if the writer uses paragraphs.

• A paragraph in an email is often two or three sentences long.

• Each paragraph starts on a new line.

• When you start writing about a new topic, you can start a new paragraph.

Paragraphs

Multiple Select

Dear Janice,

.............................

I haven't seen you for ages! I'll be at the Global Education seminar next week. I'm glad you're going, too. .................. Could you let me know?

With best wishes,

Dana

• How are you?

• Could you please confirm

• My name is Andrea Ponzi

• Shall we meet and have a coffee?

• Could we speak

Multiple Select

Dear Sir or Madam,

.................... my reservation for 2 March. Unfortunately I have to cancel my reservation for personal reasons. I hope there will not be any charge for this. ............................... this cancellation?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Mary Sinati

• How are you?

• Could you please confirm

• I am writing about

• Could you please always put

• Could we speak

Email etiquette

Don’t be rude!

Email dos and don'ts

• Rule 1

• Always check you've got the right name in the 'To' box. And make sure your email only goes to the people who need to read it.

• Remember that if you reply to all, then everyone will get your email. Does the whole group member really need to read your email to one person about something unimportant?

Email dos and don'ts

• Rule 2

• This sounds obvious, but don't forget to attach them! A word of advice – attach the file you want to send before you start writing. That way, you can't forget to attach it!
  

Email dos and don'ts

• Rule 3

• No. If you write 'CAN YOU LET ME KNOW THIS WEEK?' you are basically shouting at your reader. They will think you are very rude. So just don't do it.

Email dos and don'ts

• Rule 4

• Short emails sometimes sound rude. People won't read very long emails. Keep emails short, but remember to be polite and friendly, too.

Email dos and don'ts

• Rule 5

• This is important, especially if it's a work email. If you make mistakes in your email, people will think you also make mistakes in your work. So always check everything carefully. Ask a colleague to read and check it before you hit 'Send'.

Multiple Choice

Rule 1.

Always check you've got the right name in the 'To' box.

• Who to send the email to

• Length

• Proofreading

• Attachment

Multiple Choice

Rule 2.

This sounds obvious, but don't forget to attach them! A word of advice – attach the file you want to send before you start writing. That way, you can't forget to attach it!

• Who to send the email to

• Length

• Proofreading

• Attachment

Multiple Choice

Rule 5

If you make mistakes in your email, people will think you also make mistakes in your work. So always check everything carefully. Ask a colleague to read and check it before you hit 'Send'.

• Who to send the email to

• Length

• Proofreading

• Attachment

Multiple Choice

Rule 4

Short emails sometimes sound rude. People won't read very long emails. Keep emails short, but remember to be polite and friendly, too.

If you make mistakes in your email, people will think you also make mistakes in your work. So always check everything carefully. Ask a colleague to read and check it before you hit 'Send'.

• Who to send the email to

• Length

• Proofreading

• Attachment

Poll

How do you feel about this interactive lesson?

• FUN

• BORING

• TOO LONG