Writing a good professional email in English is something simple, but it says a lot about your level of expertise. A well-crafted, well-written email that conforms to writing protocols tells your recipient how polished you are and the quality of your work. To avoid common traps, "layers" from the French language or other awkward wording, here are some tips some practical tips to improve professional correspondence in English.
Write a professional email in 3 steps
- The email introduction
- The body of the mail
- Conclude your email in professional English
The email introduction
Formal or informal greetings
- Good morning/Hello/Hey → personal tone, if the person you are talking to is a colleague or a close customer.
- Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms → neutral tone, if you don't know a woman's marital status, choose Ms instead of Mrs.
- Dear Sir or Madam → very impersonal tone, use if you don't know your recipient at all.
- To Whom It May Concern → very impersonal tone, to be sent to a department, or to any recipient whose identity you do not know.
- To the Hiring Manager → to be sent when applying for a job, for example.
Opening sentences
- I hope this email finds you well → J’espère que cet email vous trouvera bien (littéralement)
- I’m writing on behalf of… → J’écris au nom de
- Last week, I sent you… → La semaine passée, je t’ai envoyé…
- As I have not received a confirmation email from you, I am writing to… → N’ayant pas reçu d’email de confirmation de votre part, je vous écris pour…
- I am writing let you know that / ask for some details about → Je vous écris pour vous faire savoir que / vous demander quelques détails sur …
- We regret to inform you that… → Nous avons le regret de vous informer que…
- I am delighted to inform you that… → J’ai le plaisir de vous informer que…
- Following your recent/last mail → Suite à votre récent/dernier courrier
- Regarding your request for information… → Concernant votre demande d’information…
The body of the mail
It should be short, structured and effective.
If you don't have much information to convey, keep it short and list your requests. Otherwise, divide your text using the following linking words:
- Firstly, To begin, First of all…
- Then, Another point is, In addition to…
- Finally, To sum up, At last…
Conclude your email in professional English
Indicate the attachment
To replace "“ci-joint" :
- Please find attached/enclosed
- Hereby attached
- Please find below
Concluding sentences:
- Kindly confirm upon receipt. → Veuillez confirmer à la réception.
- If you need any further information feel free to contact me. → Si vous avez besoin de plus d’information n’hésitez pas à me contacter.
- I look forward to hearing from you soon. → Dans l’attente d’une réponse rapide de votre part.
- Thank you for your quick answer. → Je vous remercie pour votre réponse rapide.
- Thank you for your consideration regarding this matter. → Je vous remercie de votre considération concernant cette affaire.
Form of address
To replace “Cordialement”,
- Formal Sincerely, Yours truly, Best regards, Yours faithfully,
- More informal level: Best wishes, Kind regards, Best,
Our tips for writing a professional email in English
Example of a well-written email in professional English:
Dear Pierre,
I hope this message finds you well. This is Samantha from the marketing department.
With reference to the recruitment, I would like to kindly remind you to send me the list of successful candidates for the position of community manager by the end of the week.
Please find attached, a template, to fill out with the list of candidates.
Best regards,
Samantha Rodgers.
4 tips for a well-written email in English:
1- Be clear and concise
Being clear and concise is very important. You want your email to be simple and straightforward,. Your recipient probably receives several emails a day and you want to avoid wasting their time and drowning them in confusing details.
2-Use the right tools
Install the Grammarly application, which is a good free tool to naturally correct typos in your communications.
3- Pay attention to punctuation
Pay attention to your punctuation! Unlike in French, in English you never put a space before a double punctuation mark (colon, question mark, exclamation mark, semicolon...).
4- Using modals
Avoid "could you" which is a bit too blunt and direct and feel free to use modals such as "may you", "would you".
You don't need to be bilingual to write an excellent professional email in English ! Just a little technique, the right structure and that's it!
