1.1: Writing A Formal Email

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This lesson includes slides for classroom presentation.

What do we use emails for?

Some examples of what emails are used for include:

School
Work
Friends and Family
Housing
Problems with Online Shopping

What should a good email have?

A good email should have the following:

A clear and specific subject line
A greeting, closing, and signature
Proper capitalization and punctuation
Correct spelling and grammar

A Clear and Specific Subject Line

BAD EX: Hellooooo ^____^
BAD EX: EMERGENCY URGENT TEACHER PLS RESPOND!!!
GOOD EX: Absence - ESL 103
GOOD EX: Question about test - ESL 103

Greeting

Which of the following is an appropriate greeting for... a good friend?

Dear Mark!
Hi Mark!
Mr. Mark Thompson!
Hi there!

The correct response is... Hi Mark!

Which of the following is an appropriate greeting for... a college professor I know?

Dear Sir,
Mr. John,
Hello Professor Smith,
Dear John,

The correct response is... Hello Professor Smith,

Which of the following is an appropriate greeting for... a female professor?

Dear teacher,
Dear Ms. Simons,
Hello Miss!
Dear Professor Simons,

The correct response is... Dear Professor Simons,

Which of the following is an appropriate greeting for... a new business contact if I do not know his or her name?

Dear Sir,
Dear Mister,
Hello!
Dear Sir or Madam,

The correct response is... Dear Sir or Madam,

The general rules for greetings are as follows...

If you know the person you are writing to...
- Dear Mr. / Ms. / Professor ______,
- Hello _____,
- Hi ______,
If you do not know who will read your email...
- Dear Sir or Madam,
- To Whom It May Concern:

Closing and Signature

The following are appropriate closings...

Sincerely,
Thank you,
Regards,
Best,
Thank you for your time,
Thank you for your help,

Each of these should be followed by your full name

GOOD EX: Sincerely, Jaquelin Yang

Proper Capitalization and Punctuation

Do not use all capital letters or too many exclamation marks
- BAD EX: TEACHER I WILL BE LATE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

Correct Spelling and Grammar

Do not use abbreviations
- BAD EX: LOL TTYL THX
Writing emails can be easier than talking in person... You have time to read over your emails again before you send them

Some other things to be careful of

Use a professional email address
- GOOD EX: jyang001@sdccd.edu
- BAD EX: happiiiteacherrr@gmail.com
Do not use emojis in emails
- BAD EX: I will be late today :( sorry :(

Some other things in the email

Attach: Use "attach" to send things like essays, pictures, videos, etc.
- If you attach something, make sure you say it in the email
  - GOOD EX: I have attached my essay to this email
CC: Use "CC" to send an email to more than one person. CC is usually for people who need this information but do not need to respond
- GOOD EX: I might send an email TO my professor but I CC the tutor in the class
BCC: This is for when you need to send the email to a lot of people, but for privacy reasons, you do not want to show their names
- This is mostly used for business emails

Useful links to review at home

Attribution

Jaquelin Yang, ESL Instructor Grossmont College