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, |
Comments
A clear example of building an email template
february 16Th 2018
Dear sir
In reference to your complaint received on 7th of July where you communicate the problem with your...
We are very grateful to you for letting us know these details. So that, we can identity those aspects to be improved. We also apologise for the inconvenience you have suffered
We can either refund your Money or exchange it for another one ( the faulty ...)
Someone from our company will be contacting you within three Days to let you know we plan to resolve this issue, and hopefully regain your confidence in our company.
On behalf of our company My apologies for any inconvenience caused
Yours sincerely
Name
Customer service director
With regards to ending a formal email where you do not know the name of the person you're writing to, is "Yours faithfully" the only option? I thought it was, but my schooling was many moons ago. Someone pointed out that this is an archaic form, and "Yours sincerely" or "With kind regards" are possible too.
Is there a definitive guide I can consult on this? I am a teacher and would hate to give my students wrong information.
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
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