Mastering Formal Emails

21 Phrases For Formal Emails - Business English (FREE E-phrasebook)

Estimated read time: 1:20

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    Summary

    Derek Callan from 'English for Professionals' shares a comprehensive guide to enhance formal email writing skills. Starting with greetings, he emphasizes using 'Miss' over 'Mrs.' and the importance of using surnames. The lesson covers introductory phrases, stating the email's purpose, attaching documents, making requests, arranging meetings, and closing statements. Callan also provides tips on referring to previous correspondence and offering further communication. These insights aim to professionalize email communication and maintain formal yet friendly interactions in a business setting.

      Highlights

      • Greetings should be professional; use 'Miss,' and always use surnames! 📧
      • Introduce yourself with name, job title, and company for unfamiliar recipients 👔
      • Start with a friendly touch if you have a formal relationship 'I hope everything is going well' 😊
      • State the purpose of your email clearly with phrases like 'I am writing in connection with' ⚠
      • Mention attachments with 'I have attached' instead of 'enclosed' for emails 📎
      • Close emails offering future communication with 'If you need any further information, please contact me' 🔗
      • End with 'Best regards' to keep it formal yet friendly! 🌐

      Key Takeaways

      • Use 'Miss' instead of 'Mrs.' for women's professional salutations 📝
      • Always use surnames in formal emails for a professional touch 📧
      • Start emails with friendly yet formal phrases like 'I hope everything is going well' 🎉
      • For continuing communication, typical phrases include 'It was lovely meeting you' or 'Thank you for your mail' 📞
      • When making requests, use phrases like 'Could you please let me know' or 'I would appreciate it if you could' 🙏
      • To give information in emails, use the phrase 'I would like to inform you about' ⚠
      • Close your emails with 'Best regards' for a formal touch 🌐

      Overview

      In this informative session by Derek Callan from 'English for Professionals,' viewers learn various phrases and techniques to write formal business emails. Derek dives into the nuances of professional salutations and highlights the do's and don'ts of greeting recipients based on gender and title usage.

        Further into the lesson, Derek explains how to construct the body of formal emails. He focuses on keeping communication concise and professional without losing a personal touch. Viewers discover the importance of introductory phrases, mentioning past interactions, and clearly stating the email's intent.

          Finally, Derek wraps up the tutorial by guiding viewers on how to conclude their emails effectively. He emphasizes the significance of closure sentences and ensuring future communication is welcomed. This ensures that emails end on a productive note while maintaining professionalism.

            Chapters

            • 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Greetings Tips The chapter titled 'Introduction and Greetings Tips' is a short lesson aimed at teaching useful phrases and expressions for writing formal emails. The presenter, Derek, welcomes the audience to 'English for Professionals' and reminds viewers about subscribing to his channel and joining the email list for regular updates.
            • 00:30 - 01:30: Introduction and Message Phrases The chapter titled 'Introduction and Message Phrases' provides insights into writing formal emails, specifically focusing on proper greetings. It emphasizes the importance of using 'Miss' instead of 'Mrs.' when addressing women in professional settings. Additionally, it directs the reader to access additional business English vocabulary through a link provided in the description.
            • 01:30 - 02:30: Phrases for Previous Contact and Stating Purpose This chapter focuses on the correct formal salutations to use in emails when initiating contact. It emphasizes using the surname for addressing the email recipient, such as writing 'Dear Mr.' or 'Dear Ms.' followed by their last name, instead of using their first name. The guidance is particularly relevant for formal communications. If someone's name is Mary Franklin, the appropriate greeting would be 'Dear Ms. Franklin' instead of 'Dear Miss Mary Franklin.' For instances where the recipient's name is unknown, such as with email addresses that start with 'info' or 'office,' the chapter suggests using 'Dear Sir' as a default greeting.
            • 02:30 - 03:30: Giving Information and Attachments The chapter provides guidance on writing emails, particularly focusing on introducing oneself. It suggests including one's name, job title, and company when initiating emails, especially in formal relationships. For acquaintances with whom the writer shares a formal relationship but knows personally, starting with a friendly opening like 'I hope everything is going well' or 'I hope you had a nice Christmas' is advised.
            • 03:30 - 04:30: Making Requests and Arrangements The chapter titled 'Making Requests and Arrangements' discusses various formal email writing techniques. It includes ways to refer to previous contacts, such as meetings, phone conversations, or emails. It also covers different phrases that can be used to state the reason for writing an email, emphasizing the importance of clear and concise communication.
            • 04:30 - 05:30: Confirmation and Ending the Email The chapter discusses proper ways to confirm and end emails. It highlights the importance of choosing the right phrases for conveying information. Instead of saying 'I have enclosed,' which is appropriate for letters, it suggests using 'I would like to inform you about' for emails with attachments.
            • 05:30 - 06:30: Closing Remarks and Subscription Information The chapter provides guidance on closing communications, particularly emails and letters. It emphasizes the importance of mentioning attachments when sending emails by using phrases like 'I have attached.' It also discusses various polite ways to make requests, such as asking 'Could you please let me know if' or stating 'I would appreciate it if you could.' The chapter also touches on making arrangements efficiently.

            21 Phrases For Formal Emails - Business English (FREE E-phrasebook) Transcription

            • 00:00 - 00:30 hi everybody in this short lesson I'm going to show you some useful phrases and expressions for writing formal emails welcome back to English for professionals I'm Derek and I'm here with another short lesson for you busy people before we get started just a quick reminder to subscribe to my channel hit the red button and click on the little bell and don't forget to join my email list every two weeks I send out
            • 00:30 - 01:00 my free vocabulary email with additional business English words from the news and everyday English for you to learn the link is in the description below so go and check it out and now let's get started with the lesson useful phrases for formal emails let's start with greetings my first tip is always use miss and not misses when writing to a woman in a professional context so write dear Miss Jones and nook dear mrs. Jones
            • 01:00 - 01:30 and when write into a man simply write dear mister in formal emails we always use the surname so if the person's name is Mary Franklin don't write dear Miss Mary or dear Miss Mary Franklin write dear Miss Franklin and if you don't have the name of the person you're writing to because the email address starts with info or office then write dear sir /
            • 01:30 - 02:00 madam for some emails you'll need to introduce yourself and follow the simple structure in this sentence with name job title and company if you know the person your right into a little bit but still have a formal relationship you can start with a friendly opening by saying something like I hope everything is going well or I hope you had a nice Christmas now let's look at some phrases
            • 02:00 - 02:30 you can use to refer to the last contact you had it was lovely meeting you at the sales conference last week or it was nice talking to you on the phone earlier or thank you for your mail last week another important part of formal email writing is to state the reason for your email and we have different possibilities phrases like I am writing in connection with I am writing with regard to and so on another
            • 02:30 - 03:00 typical email function is to give information and a very simple way to do that is to use the phrase I would like to inform you about then we have attachments another tip here don't write I have enclosed in an email we only use that for letters when we send additional documents with a
            • 03:00 - 03:30 physical letter for emails we always say attached and the simplest way to do this is to write I have attached next we come to making a request so here we have some different options could you please let me know if I would appreciate it if you could would it be possible to when making arrangements one of the most
            • 03:30 - 04:00 common phrases we use is I was wondering if you or would 10 a.m. be a suitable time or I am afraid I'm not available on Wednesday would Thursday work if you want to confirm something simply right I would like to confirm and if you want to refer to a question that the person had in the previous email you can use
            • 04:00 - 04:30 examples like this and now we come to the end of the email the closing lines and sometimes we want to offer more communication so a typical way to do this would be to write if you need or require any further information please feel free or please do not hesitate to contact me then we sometimes want to refer to the next meeting the most common way to
            • 04:30 - 05:00 do this is I look forward to and another tip here always use an in-form after I look forward to I look forward to seeing you meeting you hearing from you and so on and finally the most common way to close a formal email best regards so that brings us to the end of another short lesson as always all the phrases and expressions are listed in the description below let me know in the
            • 05:00 - 05:30 comments if you have any other examples and also if there's any other business English topic you'd like me to cover in an upcoming lesson if you liked the lesson hit the like button and share with your friends and colleagues subscribe to my channel if you haven't done that already and join my email list every two weeks I send out my free vocabulary email with additional business English words from the news and everyday English for you to learn the link is in the description below thanks a lot for watching and see you soon