How to Write an Email in English

Greetings

Formal:

• Dear xxx and no greeting

Informal:

• Hi xxx or Hello xxx
• I hope you’ll well. How are you?

Opening

Formal:

• I’m writing regarding …
• I wanted to follow up on …
• I would like to ask about …

Informal:

• Do you know …
• Let’s …
• How will …

Adding detail

Main idea, and talk more about the thing,

Change topic

Some Examples:

• There’s one more thing I’d like to discuss with you.
• Regarding …
• I’d like to ask you about ….

Adding a call to action

Some Examples:

• Please … by tomorrow at the latest.
• As a matter of urgency, you need to ….
• Could you please …
• I would like you to …

Other Examples:

• I suggest that you …
• Can I ask you to …
• Please let me …

If don’t need replay:

• This is just to keep you updated.
• This doesn’t require and immediate response, but please keep on eye on the situation.

An Email Example

Dear Lina,

I need to bring something to your attention: many staff are using very weak passwords on their laptops and for database access.

Our work depends on keeping our client’s personal financial information safe. If we lose our client’s trust on this issue, it will not be easy to recover. I trust that you can see that it is better to take action now, rather than after something goes wrong.

I suggest we make a rule that passwords must be a specific length, and that staff must change their passwords at least once a month. Please let me know what you think about this.

Regards,

Vijay.

How to use Commas

Listing Comma

Some Examples:

• We need two cucumbers, four tomatoes, some onions and a lettuce.
• We spent our time relaxing on the beach, swimming in the sea and drinking coffee in the seaside cafes.

Joining Comma

Some Examples:

• We were tired, and we really didn’t feel like going anywhere.
• He seemed nice, but he just wasn’t my type.
• You’ll either have to start again, or find someone to help you.

Bracketing Comma

Some Examples:

• This book, first published in 1956, is still useful for students today.

• One of my colleagues, who used to be a semi-professional footballer, invited me to play in their 5-a-side team this weekend.

• Similar to most people his age, he isn’t really thinking about his future.

• He told me that he wanted to quit and become a painter, which surprised me.

Tips to improve Your Sentence Structure

subject + verb

Some Examples:

• They have a nice house.
• Everybody agreed. (Everybody who was at the meeting agreed to change the office dress code to something more informal.)
• My math teacher from high school was really good at explaining complicated things.

Empty subjects: ‘it’ and ’there’:

• It won’t take long to get there.
• It’s worth going.
• There’s a mosquito on your nose.
• There have been several developments since the last time we spoke.

It + distance:

• It’s not far to the metro.

• How long will it take you to finish everything?

• It’s six thirty.

It + weather:

• It’s sunny.

• It’ll be cold tomorrow.

• It was really wet last month.

It » describing situations:

• It’s safe to walk around at night here.
• It’s good that you could join us.
• It’s really cozy in here.

There == something exists (mention firstly)

• There’s some salad in the fridge.

• There’s are several reasons why I have to say ’no’ to this idea.

• There didn’t use to be so many homeless people here.

subject + aux verb + main verb

Some Examples:

• They have bought a nice house.

• My sister Mandy will call tonight.

main verb + subject

Some Examples: (questions with ‘be’)

• Are you ready?
• Were there many people there?

aux verb + subject

Some Examples: (questions + formal structures)

• Can you help me?

• What time does she arrive?

• How many pieces of cake have you had already?

• At no time did I suspect that he was the thief.

5 Ways to Compare and Contrast in English

Talking about big differences

Some Examples:

• They’re totally different.
• It’s hard to compare them.
• They’re almost nothing alike.

Other Examples:

• Everything moves so much faster.
• Laos is way more relaxed.
• Lisbon is much cheaper than most European cites.
• The museum was so much more interesting than I expected.
• Shanghai is way bigger than anywhere I’ve been before.

Talking about close similarities

Some Examples:

• They’re so alike.
• I can hardly tell them apart.
• They look so similar.
• They’re equally chatty.
• He’s just as sarcastic as his brother.

Other Examples:

• I can hardly tell these two wines apart.
• I hated both cities; they’re equally terrible.
• Playing golf is just as boring as watching it.

Talking about small differences

Some Examples:

• They played a bit better.

• They were just a little sharper.

• The keeper did slightly better.

• He wasn’t quite as hesitant as he was last week.

Other Examples:

• Taking the train will be a bit faster.
• She’s a little older than her husband.
• This isn’t quite as spicy as the last time you made it.

Food topic

Some Examples:

• The dishes didn’t vary much.
• Everything tasted much the same.
• The main dishes were all pretty similar.
• It was more or less like tonight.
• It was nearly as expensive as that Japanese place we went to for my birthday.

Other Example:

• Apartments here don’t vary much.

• You can do it today or tomorrow - it’s much the same to me.

• A lot of small towns in the UK are pretty similar.

• There are different versions of rugby, but the basic idea is more or less the same.

• My nephew is almost as tall as me now!

Other topics

Comparing two cities:

If you visit Russia, you should definitely visit both Moscow and St Petersburg. They’re completely different cities. St Petersburg feels much more European than Moscow, while Moscow is a bit gritter , but very interesting. Things like accommodation, food, transport and so on are much the same in both places. It’s slightly easier to find a cheaper place to stay in St Petersburg, but Moscow has a bit more variety when it comes to eating out. To get around, take the metro, which is just as efficient in both cities.

Comparing working at home and working in an office:

It’s hard to compare working at home and working in an office. People think that working at home would be much more relaxing, but that’s not always true. You still have to do just as much work, so it can be equally stressful. Of course, you have slightly more freedom to plan your own day, but you also have to be a bit more responsible, because otherwise you end up wasting a lot of time. In the end, you save time commuting, but most people waste a little more time, so you spend nearly as much time working as if you just went to work.