Starting and finishing emails
Here are some important points to consider when starting and finishing an email.
Formal or informal?
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. Here are some examples of formal and informal messages:
| Formal | Informal |
|---|---|
| An email to a customer A job application An email to your manager A complaint to a shop An email from one company to another company |
A birthday greeting to a colleague |
Before you start writing an email, decide if you want to write a formal email or an informal one.
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.
| Formal | Informal |
|---|---|
|
Dear Mr Piper, |
Hi Tim, |
Phrases for starting and finishing
Here are some phrases which we use for starting and finishing emails. We use these in formal and informal emails:
| Starting phrases | Dear Tim, Good morning Tim, |
| Ending phrases | Regards, With best wishes, With many thanks and best wishes, |
You also need to know which phrases to use only in a formal email or an informal one:
| Formal | Informal | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting phrases |
Dear Mr Piper, |
Hi Tim, Hi there Tim, Morning/Afternoon/Evening Tim, Hello again Tim, |
| Ending phrases | Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully, Yours truly, |
Rgds, Cheers, Bye for now, See you soon, |
Hello Adam Smith,
Again, it depends on your company and on what is normal. If you've met the manager and are already on first name terms then 'Dear Tim' should be fine. If you haven't met the manager, or if you call him 'Sir' or 'Mr. Cook' when you speak to him, then the first name greeting would not be appropriate.
If you're not sure, then it's probably better to err on the side of being more formal.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Adam Smith,
We never use the first name with 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.', so 'Mr. Tim' is incorrect.
The reason you are finding so many different examples is that this really does depend on the particular company you are working for. What is appropriate in one company may not be appropriate in another.
My most general advice is this:
If you don't know your boss and have not spoken to him before, or if you have only addressed him as 'Mr. Cook', then a formal style is safest:
If you have spoken with your boss before and addressed them by their first name, then a less formal style is better:
If you have a relaxed relationship with your boss, and if company culture allows it, then a very informal style is possible:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Adam Smith,
This really depends on the culture of the company. Some companies encourage a more informal internal style, including the use of first names in this way, while other companies maintain a more formal and hierarchical form of interaction.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team