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, Dear Sir or Madam, |
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 Helen BP,
The traditional rule - my time in school was a few decades ago as well - was as you suggest: Yours sincerely (or just Sincerely) if we know the name; Yours faithfully (or just Faithfully) if we do not. However, many other forms are used today, such as Best Regards and Regards, which can be used in either case.
Personally, I would not switch Sincerely and Faithfully around if for no other reason than the fact that the other person may interpret it as ignorance on my part if they are of a traditionalist bent. Why risk creating a bad impression for no gain?
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello kokisaoudy
That is grammatically correct, though please note that spelling and punctuation are very important in English, particularly formal English. So what you wrote needs to be formatted like this: 'I am Karima, Sales Coordinator at XYZ Company'.
That is not particularly formal, though. I'm afraid I can't write your letter for you, but, for example, saying 'My name is Karima and I am a Sales Coordinator at ...' would be better here.
There aren't any emails like this one in our Writing skills section, but I'd recommend you have a look at some of the emails there to practise more.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello prabhakaran729,
There is no single way to do this. It really depends on the culture of the company and the tone you wish to aim at. Some companies prefer a very formal approach (Dear Sir/Madam, > Yours faithfully,), while others use a more relaxed style. We can't guess what style your company prefers and so we can't really give you any detailed help here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello _SENDavid_,
That sounds fine. As it says above, we use commas after the opening phrase ("Dear Joe,") and after the closing phrase ("Best Regards,").
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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
Hello Amanda
These are very useful ideas -- thanks for sharing them here!
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello jmajo
'Kind regards' (notice the second word is not capitalised) is neutral in register, that is, neither formal nor informal. In many business contexts in the UK, it would be an acceptable way to end an email, unless the situation called for a very formal style.
It would sound strange if you used it with friends or family, but would be appropriate to use when writing to someone you don't know or don't know well.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello englishman332,
Both phrases are fine. 'I look forward to hearing from you soon' is more formal but it is quite normal.
There are variants for other situations:
I look forward to hearing from / seeing / speaking to / meeting / talking to you.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team