#161: Write Better Emails in English (and Avoid Common Email Mistakes)
This lesson has been updated from its original version published in August 2016.
I know writing emails in English can be stressful — but they don’t have to be. You can use the right language, follow the right rules, and make it easy for your readers to understand you.
That’s what this lesson is all about.
How to write better emails in English and avoid common email mistakes so you can communicate effectively.
Write Better Emails in English & Avoid Common Mistakes
Lesson Summary:
Follow these 5 basic tips for clear, effective communication in English.
Plus, get my favorite way to make sure your grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct!
TIP ONE: Always use a greeting (and make sure it’s correct).
Using a greeting, like ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ is always polite and professional. It makes a positive first impression.
You always want to know WHO you’re writing to. For example, I get many emails that say, “Dear sir,” but I’m definitely not a sir. 😉
TIP TWO: Use the right level of formality.
If you’re too formal, your emails are cold and distant.
If you’re too informal too fast, you look unprofessional.
A good rule is to use the same level of formality your counterpart uses with you.
TIP THREE: Make sure your grammar, punctuation, and spelling are correct.
My favorite tool for this is Grammarly.com.
Plus it’s free!!
TIP FOUR: Use a clear simple subject line.
There are two reasons for this:
- It tells your reader what your email is about (and they are more likely to read it).
- It will be easier to search for important information later.
Watch the video for a clear example.
TIP FIVE: Keep your emails short.
Everyone is busy. Long sentences and long paragraphs are difficult to read.
Focus on the key point. And, when necessary, use bullet points.
In the video I share a simple example.
Lessons Mentioned in the Confident English Video:
Use the Right Greeting for Every Situation in English
The Language You Need to Write Great Emails in English
How to Be Professional, Polite, and Friendly in English
How to Use Commas for Correct Punctuation in English
Want to read the full transcript of this lesson on how to write better emails in English?
Now that you’ve watched the video, I have a challenge question for you. I want your advice.
I want to know what is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received for writing professional emails.
It’s very possible that someone in the Confident English community is stressing out about what to write in an email today and you might have the perfect piece of advice. So I would love to hear what that is.
You can share your advice with me in the comments at the end of this lesson.
~ Annemarie
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Dear Annemarie,I listened full lesson and became so happy to read it.You explained each and every point needs to write a good Email. To tell you the truth I don’t need to do Email again and again as I am not working woman now.But learning everything new ( Especially English )is my passion that’s what gives me fire to learn something new.Doing Email in English is demanding but not impossible.I will keep your every point in my mind and I’ll try to reach my goal. I like your every lesson you are sending me.I am also trying to follow your… Read more »
Dear Annemarie,
this is very useful to me
thank you so much
Dear Annemarie, I hope you are doing good. Thanks for the knowledge to work on proficient email writing. Sometimes I received the feedback from my emails that, the person I addressed not able to understand total conversation. I wonder how this was happening, because when I’m sending a mail I cut the lengthy conversations into small readable units with some endpoint in each unit/paragraph. The person to addressed was still not able understand total conversation. I’m working as IT Engineer, so I wrote several mails on daily basis to number of cross teams/clients/vendors. Please share your ideas to achieve this.… Read more »
Hi Rajesh,
Thank you for the email and question. Without seeing specific examples, it’s difficult to say why the emails may be confusing. It could be due to a lack of clear signposting or transition words. It may be due to errors in vocabulary or grammar use. If you feel comfortable doing so, I recommend asking for more specific feedback from a colleague. Perhaps he/she could provide more insight.
Dear Annemarie,
I hope you are doing well and had a great summer vacation.
All the tips were very useful specially the last one.I always have some problems when I wanted to send an email, I hope I can improve my writing with using these English lessons.
Best regard,
Soudabeh
Hi Soudabeh, I’m glad to know this lesson was useful to you!
Madam Annemarie,
Thank you very much as this video is realistic.
Whatever you said is what i follow, but at times, especially during urgent situation, to make it short and concise, at times i struggle for words and end up my e-mail with a simple sentence rather than professional. This is where i get stuck up.
Annemarie, Thank you so much ever since I’ve started watching your videos. I’ve learned so much.
Many thanks, Annemarie for your kind support. From my own experience, my main worry was the delay in responding to urgent emails due to not having or knowing the perfect words to use. It’s quite frustrating to find yourself in that kind of situation. So, I started building up the right common vocabulary, collecting email templates, attending lessons on how to respond to requests, rude or business emails politely and professionally (all from speakconfidentenglish). In all honesty that made life much more easier and kept stress at bay. Happy email writing!
Woohoo! I’m thrilled to hear that, Grima. I’m glad we can make life in English easier for you.
Hi Annemarie, thanks for share all these videos, I’m beginning to learn English and it’s the first time to leave a mesenge and to write something in other language than not is mine. I hope to be continuum and someday be able to understand perfectly. thanks a lot.
Hi Benjamin. Thank you so much for your comment. Learning another language — and speaking it fluently — is not easy. But it’s great to know that it can change. It doesn’t happen overnight and there’s no magic solution, but becoming confident and fluent is 100% possible. Stay focused on what you want and keep doing the work. We wish you continued success in your English progress.
Hello AnnaMarie, a warmest greetings to you. My best advise in writing an email must be concise, focus on main topics clearly and as much as possible write it briefly in a few words. Lastly, always with greetings/ salutation and signature.
Great advice, Maria! I totally agree with you.
Thank you Annemarie for these relevant tips! I have been reminded to use concise email paragraphs. Also, my advice is to not forget placing closing salutations or signature. I made this mistake when I am applying for a job and ended up receiving no response. The lesson for this is to always proofread emails before sending it.
Great advice to add, Ara! You’re right that it’s important to use greetings and signatures!
Thankq so much for your awesome tips and vedios! But I can’t write email ,I read every line essay way I can understand.
You’re so welcome. I’m glad it was useful to you.
Best advice, to be brief and concise when writing emails. Grammar is very important since it reflects how professionals should write. Thank you so much for your awesome tips, and videos!
Thanks for your comment, Rizza. I’m glad this was helpful!
Hi Annemarie
The best advice I have learnt today: make emails short ant concise and read them twice before despatch.
I’m glad this was helpful, Faisal.
Hi Anamarie, First of all, I want to thank you for having your pedagogical and practical videos available. Regarding this video about emails, I have found point 5 (keep your emails short) especially practical. You are totally right, everybody is busy and is quite better reading short paragraphs, focusing on the key point. But I want to thank you especially for your advice about using Grammarly.com”. In fact, I am using it right now and I reckon is really practical. I am sure it is going to be a good tool for my job. Moreover, is free. Thanks again for… Read more »
Hi Elvira, thanks so much for the kind comment. I’m glad to know this lesson was helpful and you’ve got a new app to use!
I liked very much your lesson about how to write the perfect email. I get some nervous at work when I have to send an email to more than one person. Thank you very much for your great advice.
Before typing an email is better to organize the ideas, what’s the main idea you need to convey, be precise and go to the point. oh, and check the grammar and the email, few times before sending it.
Hi Conny!
Thanks for the comment. I’m glad to know this lesson was useful. And you’re exactly right, it’s helpful to plan and organize in advance.
Hello Annemarie,
Thank you for this video. What can I do if I need to communicate with a Person belongs to an institution? It is polite to write “Dear Mr. or Mrs. X” or it is better to say “Dear member of staff” or simply “Good morning”?
Thanks, María
Hi Maria,
Good question. But let me make sure I understand correctly. Do you mean if you don’t know the person’s name?
Hello Annemarie,
Thank you for answering my question so quickly. It is not only the case if I don’t know the person’s name. Concerning, for example, (American) institutions could be more polite if you address your request not to an individual person but to the institution to who the person belongs.
At the moment I try to contact some institutions in the USA they are very important for my work and for this reason I am thinking about to use the correct greeting.
Thank you for your help, María
Hi Maria,
I think I understand the question.
We cannot use “Mr.” or “Ms.” if we don’t know the person’s name. It will look like a mistake in the email and others will notice it right away.
If you cannot find the name, you could use something like:
“Dear HR Team”
“Dear Marketing Department”
“To whom it may concern.”
However, these aren’t recommended. We only use these if it’s impossible to find the name of the person you’re writing to. I hope that helps.
Greetings,
The examples used in your video are right on point with the advice given for writing professional emails. Here are a few tips given in the past.
– proofread – make sure things flow properly
– check spelling
– if writing to manager, director – always have someone to read to grammatical errors
– answer all questions
Thanks,
Sag
Hi Annemarie,
Thanks as always.
The best advice I had gotten before was, put the main point first. Then continue with a reason, situation or logic behind to support. Not the other way around. I like it.
Oh, great advice Akiko! I like that. And it definitely helps the reader see the most important information right away. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for todays lesson.reading and sending emails is 90%of my daily job.its abit nerve wracking because you must be very careful in how to reply on an email.firtsly you must understand what you read and what you reply.i will always start my emails with good day or goodmorning or afternoon .and if i know the oerson i will say hi and the name.the subject must be a short description of the contents of the email.it must be short and easy to understand what u read.i will always end my emails by saying.thankyou in advance if i ask something kindly… Read more »
Hi Beverly,
Thanks so much for your message. I’m glad to know this lesson was helpful to you. Certainly, writing emails correctly is important for work.
For example, if you review your email, is there anything you might change about the punctuation or spacing? This is a great opportunity to practice.
Hello Sir,
My name is (1) Sam. I (2) often use (3) English for my work but (4) I don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read in English. (5)I understand everything. But with speaking (6) I’m very nervous so (7) I’m happy about your emails. (8) To answer your question, (9) I mostly feel speaking is my challenge because (10) I forget the words (11) I need. (12) I understand when (13) I hear them but I forget everything when I speak.
(14) I’m thankful for your (15) advice.
Sincerely(16), (17)
Sam(18)
Hey Annemarie,
Your’s Videos lectures And Techniques was very help full for me every day.My English improved day by day.I’m Thankfull to for your best initative and work you habe shared vith us.Now I’m practicing speaking and imroving my English Abilities.
Regards
Salman Awan,
Hi Salman,
Thank you so much for the comments. I’m thrilled to know you find the lessons useful to you. 😊
Hello Annemarie, I started to view all your videos since I had subscribed to your channel. You are one of my most favorite teachers. And I am planning to watch all your lessons. This is my try. Hello S̶i̶r (1) Madam, My name is s̶a̶m (2) Sam. I u̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶t̶e̶n (3) often use e̶n̶g̶l̶i̶s̶h (4) English for my work but i (5) I don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read in English. (6) I understand everything. But with speaking i(7) I’m very nervous so I (8) I’m happy about your emails. to(9) To answer your question,… Read more »
Hey Annemarie, A day after I did this task I thought that this email looks like a formal one. So, it will be correct if we use “Dear Madam” at the beginning of the email. I am not sure if in a semi-formal email is acceptable to begin with “Hello Sir/Madam”. I would be grateful if you could correct the mistakes I probably made in these two comments.
Well done, Oleg! You’ve done a great job correcting the mistakes in the email. And to your question: Hello Sir or Hello Madam is perfectly appropriate. Dear is too formal and also assuming some emotional connection. For business, I would stick with hello or good morning/afternoon.
Awesome,great stuff indeed!
Glad it was helpful, Godfrey.
Dear Annemarie,
Thank you so much for your guidance, which is awsome, as usually!
Yours truly,
Dara
I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you, Dara.
Hi Annemarie First I would like to thank you for this wonderful lesson. Please find my answer to your sample email 2 and correct if require – Hello Sir, My name is Sam (1). I often (2) use English (3) for my work but I (4) don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read in English. (5) I understand everything. But with speaking I’m (6) very nervous so I’m (7) happy about your emails. To (8) answer your question, I (9) mostly feel speaking is my challenge because I (10) forget the words I (11) need. (12)… Read more »
Wow! Excellent job, Sonam! I’m glad this lesson was helpful and you did an excellent job correcting the errors.
Dear Annemarie, my name is Annisa from Indonesia. I will try to find the correction of your quiz. Hello Sir, My name is (1)Sam. I (2)often (3)use (4)English for my work but (5)I don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read in English. (5)I understand everything. But with speaking (6)I’m very nervous(7), so (8)I’m happy about your emails. (9)To answer your question, (10)I (11)feel speaking is (12)mostly my challenge because (13)I forget the words (14)I need.I understand when (15)I hear them but I forget everything when I speak. I (16)am thankful for your (17)advice. (18):) Sincerely,(19) Emma… Read more »
Hello Annisa,
Great work! You did an excellent job of finding mistakes – even the little ones. I noticed one small thing – we need to add a space between “…I need.I…” You can find this sentence toward the end, after number 14. We need a space between the period and the beginning of the next sentence.
Thank you for sharing!
hello, mam
my name is Ritesh. I am Software developer . but my problem is english talking. tell me mam sugestion in English speaking.
because my problem is job interviews and very important in good communication skills please tell me sugestion.
Hello Ritesh,
Thank you for your email. I have a series of lessons on job interviews that I’m sure will be useful to you. Here’s a great lesson to start with.
Dear Madam,
Greetings,
My name is Ritesh. I’m a software developer, but my problem is English talking. Please give me some suggestion in English speaking because I have the problem in job interviews, please give me some communicational skills.
Hello Maryam,
Thank you for your comment and questions. I have many lessons on this website about speaking, fluency, and job interview skills. You can find a few of the most common here:
Job Interview Lessons
Speaking and Fluency Lessons
If you’d like to learn and practice with me, I offer courses on these skills as well.
Hi Annemarie Here’s my answer to your sample email 2: Hello Sir, My name is (1)Sam. I (2)often use (often) (3)English for my work but (4)I don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read (5)(in) English. (6)I understand everything. But with speaking(7), (8)I’m very nervous so (9)I’m happy about your emails. (10)To answer your question, (11)I mostly feel speaking is my challenge because (12)I forget the words (13)I need. (14)I understand when (15)I hear them but I forget everything when I speak. I(16)’m thankful for your advices. (17)))))) Sincerely(18), (19) Please let me know if my answers… Read more »
Hi Carla,
Wonderful! Very well down with finding and fixing the errors in the sample email!
One note: I’m thankful for your advices. Don’t forget: advice is a noncount noun, which means we can’t make it plural. So we want to say, I’m thankful for your advice.
And I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying my online lessons. I love knowing that they’re helpful!
Best, Annemarie
Hi, I have a doubt in your response to Ana Carla Uy. Is it correct to use “So we want to say, I’m thankful for your advice . I feel it should be So we must say, I’m thankful for your advice .
Hi Monica,
Good question. You’re right – I could say, “We must say…” but must is also considered a very direct, strong word. Sometimes, when we want to show politeness or say something softly, we use a more indirect way of communicating such as, want or would like or suggest.
Best,
Annemarie
Dear Miss Annemarie first I would like to thank you for this awesome lesson, really it is helpful and useful too. and I noticed that your lessons are appropriate to me I find a good things that a really need them in my daily work. I’m have tried to find the 19 common mistakes that you mentioned above in the video, so I hope if do it well, let dive 🙂 Hello Sir, My name is sam (Sam)1. I use often english (English)2 for my work but i (I)3 don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read… Read more »
Hello Alami,
I’m thrilled to know my Confident English lessons are so helpful to you. Thank you for your feedback.
I’m going to email you separately with answers from the email practice so you can review them. If you have any questions, please be sure to let me know.
Best, Annemarie
Hi Annamarie! Firstly, I’d like to thank you for another good lesson. I guess I’ve found all of the mistakes, hopefully. Anyway I will wait for your right answers to check myself. There is one thing I struggle with, well, there are lots of them – being honest, but as we are speaking about writing, I really would love to learn more about punctuation rules. It’s very confusing for me, because when writing in English I think I usually use my native language puctuation rules, it feels like it is right way sometimes, but I do understand that these are… Read more »
Hello Maria,
It’s so good to hear from you and I’m glad this lesson was useful!
I really appreciate your suggestions on punctuation and I’ve added them to my list for future lessons. Thank you! It really can be confusing when the punctuation rules are so different from one language to another. I will be sure to include a practice activity with a future punctuation lesson! Warmest wishes, Annemarie
Dear Sir, My name is Sam. I often use English for my work but I don’t feel good about speaking. I can write emails and read in English. I understand everything. But with speaking I’m very nervous, so I’m happy about your emails. To answer to your question, I mostly feel speaking is my challenge because I forget the words I need. I understand when I hear them but I forget everything when I speak. I’m thankful for your advises. : – ) Sincerely, Sam Or there is my version of this email, I let myself to correct some phrases… Read more »
Hello Oksana,
Great work – thank you for your answers! I’m going to email you separately with the answers (I don’t want to share all the answers on the post yet because others may want to try to answer the question as well). Be sure to watch for an email from me.
Best wishes, Annemarie