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2.1. introduction
In this section you will find information about how to structure your email.
This first page includes a general overview. You will also find specific subsections for each part of an email, and these will include explanations, strategies to apply and interactive exercises.
Before we start
Think about the emails you write to your instructors:
Do you structure them? How? Why?
Do you think very short emails need to be given a certain structure?
Do you have a clear idea of the number of sections that an email has?
Imagine that you are a university instructor and you receive the emails below.
Which one would you rather read? Why?
In which one is it easier to identify (i) the reason why the student is writing and (ii) what they are asking from you?
email structure
Most probably, you have thought that the second email would be the one you'd rather read, as the information is easier to find.
Very frequently, and especially when emails are relatively short, students tend to write them in just one paragraph. Sometimes this happens because they are in a hurry, some other times because they don't know exactly how to structure their email.
However, giving your email a clear structure helps the reader find the important information more easily (who you are, why you are writing, what you are requesting, etc.).
In the activity below, you will find an email that has been divided into fragments. Read the fragments and put them in the correct order.
Once you have ordered the email, you are ready to start learning the names of the different sections of an email.
In the activity below you will find two sets of cards: sections of the email (in capital letters) and fragments. Match the fragments with the corresponding sections.
Before we move on to each specific section, here you have some general recommendations:
Put a space between the greeting and the first paragraph, as well as the last paragraph and the closing.
Create a separate paragraph for each new point.
Check punctuation carefully, as it helps the reader understand the message.
Basically, follow the pattern you found in the second email above.
And finally some dont's. Don't...
use emoji.
delete words (e.g., 'Got your message'; 'Just wanted to follow up').
omit capitalization and punctuation (such as necessary commas, periods, apostrophes).
send an attachment without including a message in the body of the email.
write from a personal email account, use the institutional one.
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