The opening part of an email or letter in business and professional English is one of the most important parts of it. Just like in other languages, it is used to both introduce what the rest of the email is about and say what contact you have had before.

So it's important to know how to write the opening part both correctly and politely. If it is written badly, people will probably stop reading the email after the first two lines.

In this online exercise on writing emails in English, you will learn different phrases that you can use for starting an email for different situations and for different needs (For example, if it's a response/reply email or it's a first contact/request email). Although we will focus on phrases that can be used when opening formal English emails, there are also examples of phrases that can be used in more informal emails too.

To learn more English email/letter vocabulary, you can do our online exercise on essential email vocabulary or our online exercise on vocabulary used for ending an email. Or you can click here to see all of our online exercises and examples on writing emails/letters.


Exercise:

Read the following conversation between Peter and Juan, two work colleagues, about how to write email openings in business and professional English.

From the context, try to guess what the meaning of the words/phrases in bold are. Then do the quiz at the end to check if you are right.

Juan:'I need to reply to this email and I'm a little confused about how to start my email. Can you help?'

Peter:'Well, first of all you need to write that you're replying to their email. So normally you write Further to your email. Or you could use With reference to your email. They are basically the same. You can use both if you're responding to an telephone conversation or a question somebody asked you in a meeting etc... For example, "Further to our telephone conversation...".'

Juan:'But what if it's not replying or responding to anything? What could I use?'

Peter:'Then use I am writing in reference to.'

Juan:'And something for both, which is more informal would be?'

Peter:'For less formal emails (when writing to a work colleage like you for example) I normally start with, I hope everything is ok. Which is polite small talk. And then depending on what the subject or purpose of the email is, I would write, "have you heard anything about...", or "what's happening with..." or "I just thought that I'd let you know that..."'

Juan:'And after that. What would I say if I am going to confirm some information or answer some questions that they asked me in the email? Something formal.'

Peter:'I suppose use I can confirm that, if you're going to write the information in the email. If the information is in a separate file, then I'd say that I have attached the information in following document.'

Juan:'And if I'm confirming or telling them some good or bad news?'

Peter:'For bad news, I would use we regret to inform you that. And for good news we are pleased to inform you that.'

Juan:'And if you're asking for information?'

Peter:'Well, a formal way would be could you please confirm. An informal way to say the same thing, would be simply to say do you know.'


Quiz:

Match the words/phrases in bold from the above text to each of the definitions/descriptions below. Click on the "Check" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, this icon will appear next to the answer. Click on this for extra information on the word/phrase.

1. To both answer a question and explain what the current situation is with something, you can start by saying

     

I can confirm that:
(phrase) . It is used in formal emails when the information is written inside of the email. In Spanish: "Puedo confirmar que".

Close

2. A way to start the introduction of an informal or neutral email, could be

     

I hope everything is ok:
(phrase) A nice friendly way to start a neutral or informal email. You could also use, 'I hope you are doing well.' instead. With either, they are then followed by a sentence that states the purpose of the email, e.g. 'Do you know...' or 'I just thought that I'd let you know that...' etc... In Spanish: "Espero que todo vaya bien".

Close

3. A formal way to start the introduction of an email, when you're responding to a conversation or an email on the topic, is

     

With reference to your:
(phrase) This is used to confirm that you are responding. You can also phrases like 'Further to your...' or 'In reply to your...' In Spanish: "En relación a".

Close

4. To give good news/information in a formal email, you start by saying

     

We are pleased to inform you:
(phrase) A formal way of saying 'I'm happy to tell you that'. In Spanish: "Nos complace comunicarle que".

Close

5. A formal way to start the introduction of an email, when you are not responding to a previous conversation or email on the topic, is

     

I am writing in reference to:
(phrase) Often the beginning/first email starts with 'I am writing...' or 'We are writing...'. You follow it with either 'with reference to' or 'with regards to'. Then you write the purpose of the email, e.g. 'I am writing with reference to the airport project'. In Spanish: "Me dirijo a usted en referencia a".

Close

6. When you connect a file to an email, you say

     

I have attached:
(verb) In English, it is more common to say I have attached, than I attach. To make it more formal, use 'please find attached' instead. In a letter, you say I have included/enclosed not attached (means something physical, which you can touch). In Spanish: "adjunto".

Close

7. An informal way to ask for information, is

     

Do you know:
(verb) Normally, it followed by a question word (what, where etc..) or if, e.g. 'Do you know when the meeting is?'. In Spanish: "sabes".

Close

8. Another formal way to start the introduction of an email, when you're responding to a conversation or an email on the topic, is

     

Further to your:
(phrase) This is used to confirm that you are responding. You can also phrases like 'With reference to your...' or 'In reply to your...' In Spanish: "Con relación a su".

Close

9. A formal way to ask for information, is

     

Could you please confirm:
(phrase) This is a politer form of 'Do you know'. In English, 'could' is politer than 'can'. You can also replace 'confirm' with 'clarify', which has a different meaning, e.g. 'Could you please clarify the actual problems with the project?'. In Spanish: "me podrías confirmar".

Close

10. To give somebody some bad news in a formal email, you can start by saying

     

We regret to inform you:
(phrase) This is a formal way of saying 'I'm sorry to tell you that'. In Spanish: "Lamentamos tener que comunicarle que".

Close





Practice

Now that you understand the vocabulary, practise it by writing an email yourself.