Tips for writing professional business emails in English.
In each language, there are a number of rules and conventions to follow when writing emails. So here are some easy tips and tricks to follow, and some things to avoid, if you want to write professional emails in English, especially to native speakers.
1. Start by dear
“Dear” is always a good choice to start an email. What comes after depends on your relationship with the person:
- Add their surname if you’re unacquainted or have a formal relationship (Dear Mr. Smith,).
- Use their first name if you know them well (e.g. Dear Thomas,).
- Use a title or descriptor if you don’t know the person’s name (e.g. Dear board member, Dear community manager,).
- And don’t hesitate to address groups using phrases like “Dear colleagues,”.
2. Use Ms. instead of Mrs. and other notes on gender
Mrs. refers to married women, and it’s inappropriate to assume or refer to someone’s marital status. Miss is used for unmarried women, and therefore also not an appropriate start. Ms. solves this problem.
Start your emails to female recipients with Dear Ms. Smith.
However, if you’re not sure about the recipient’s gender (which is normal if we don’t know them personally) or if you want to avoid referring to any gender at all, use their full name (e.g. Dear Jane Smith,).
Additionally, since we know gender is non-binary, it might be time to step away from other binary phrases and pronouns.
Use “they” instead of “he/she” and “them” instead of “him/her”.
3. Kind regards and other variations
It’s still a convention to use “yours sincerely,” or “yours faithfully,” in formal emails, especially in a very formal email when you haven’t used the addressee’s name.
This, however, is not used often in a business context. Close with “Kind regards,” (don’t be tempted to abbreviate to KR, unless in messages to close colleagues, it might come across as rude) or “Best regard,”. Even “Best wishes,” works really well, even if that might sounds strange at first!
4. It's OK to drop the pleasantries
It’s not necessary to include a phrase like “I hope this email finds you well” which is an antiquated phrase that now feels impersonal and insincere. Feel free to replace it with something else if you know the person well and you are genuinely interested, but be specific in that case. Include a phrase asking about their holiday or commiserate with their busy schedule.
If you don’t know the recipient of your email well, don’t worry about leaving any attempt at small-talk behind. A business email must of course be polite, and more tips about that later, but it’s OK to get straight to the point after your greeting. We all appreciate efficiency and brevity!
5. Easy ways to be more polite
Replace “can” by “could” when you ask for something. For example “Could you resend the attachment?” rather than “Can you resend the attachment?” Use phrases like “Would you mind,” for example, “Would you mind forwarding me that information?”
Also don’t forget to express gratitude with sentences like “Thank you for keeping me up to date.” or “Thanks for your help.”
And lastly, keep the lines of communication open by saying something like “Don’t hesitate to contact me with further questions.” Or anything along those lines. Including these short phrases make the reader much more inclined to respond to your questions and fulfill your requests.
These small tips will surely elevate your emails to a more professional level when writing to a native speaker of English.
Good luck!
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