WRITING A FORMAL eMAIL In English

Subject: Deadline assignment 5HUM

Subject: Question (= too vague)

Dear Ms Chan,

Dear Mrs Duchesne,

Dear Mr Adriaensen,

Hello Ms Van de Cruys, (Using Hello instead of Dear is fine as well!)

Dear teachers, (if you want to address more than one teacher)

Hi! (too informal)

Hey, (too informal)

Yo! (too informal)

What's up, teacher? (too informal)

If you do not know the full name of the person you are writing to, you can use the following salutation:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Sir or Madam,

Mind the fact that we use a comma (,) after the salutation in English. The use of the comma is not common in Dutch.

Using a period after a contraction of a title (e.g. Mr., Mrs.) is common in the US. In British English, a period is not used.

Keep it short. Get to the point quickly.

If you need help, use direct questions. Your teachers can't read your mind (yet).

Break up the message into paragraphs if necessary.

If you need a response, politely ask for one.

Do not write in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Avoid using abbreviations (imo, omg, ...) .

Do not use multiple exclamation marks(!!!!) or question marks (????). One is enough.

Do not use emoticons.

Never attach a file without mentioning it in the body of your email.

Please find attached ... .

I have attached ... to this email.

Regards,

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

Thank you,

Many thanks,

Love, (too informal)

Cheers, (too informal)

CU, (too informal)

Bye, (too informal)

Greets, (too informal)

Mind the fact that we use a comma after the sign-off in English. The use of the comma in not common in Dutch emails.

Eline Peeters, 3ECOa

Make sure you proofread your message before sending it.

Use punctuation correctly.

The first person pronoun 'I' should always be capitalized.

Check for spelling mistakes.