WRITING

ABOUT MY FAMILY
AT SCHOOL     A SCHOOL PROJECT
AT THE LIBRARY
INTRODUCING YOURSELF BY EMAIL
INTRODUCING YOURSELF ON A BLOG   
A STUDENT CARD APPLICATION
A SUTDY DATE EMAIL    A STUDY DIARY
TRAINS AND TRAVEL
Write about your city
POSTCARD FROM LONDON         A POSTCARD FROM SCOTLAND
 MY FAVOURITE MEAL       A RECIPE
ANIMAL FACT FILE
A SOCIAL NETWORK SITE
BIRTHDAY PARTY INVITATION       AN INVITATION
BOOK REVIEW           A FILM REVIEW
PENPAL LETTER
MY BLOG
AN EMAIL ABOUT SPORTS
CHRISTMAS FOOD
WEDDINGS
OLIMPYC GAMES
SUMMER JOBS   
A SCHOOL TRIP

Organising your writing

The people you write to will understand well-organised emails much more easily.

Writer purpose

When you write an email, you need to make clear why you are writing. You can do this by using the phrase 'I am writing to (+ verb)' at the start of your email. Here are some examples:

I am writing to

ask for further details about ... inform you that my new address is … complain about your customer service. say thank you very much for all your hard work. apply for the job as Teacher of Maths at your school.

 

 

Paragraphs

• Emails are easier to read if the writer uses paragraphs.
• A paragraph in an email is often two or three sentences long.
• Each paragraph starts on a new line.
• When you start writing about a new topic, you can start a new paragraph.

Look at this example email to a friend.

Paragraph 1 Greeting	Hello Dmitri, How is life? I haven't seen you for a long time. How are your children?
Paragraph 2 Reason for writing	I'm writing with some good news – my wife is having a baby next month. We think it's going to be a girl, and we're very excited. But I also wanted to ask you something!
Paragraph 3 Request	You told me you have lots of baby clothes. Do you think I could borrow some for my baby? I've looked in the shops, and new baby clothes are so expensive … Could you let me know if this is OK?
Paragraph 4 Other news	By the way, I've also started a new job. It's going really well!
Paragraph 5 'look forward to' and ending	Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you soon. Give my best wishes to your wife and family. Regards, George

Starting an email

Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Delete

From: Samir
To: Sales Team
CC: Hatem Trabelsi; Patricia Bartlett
Subject: RE: Meeting next week
Attachments: New proposal.rtf (376KB)

Hello Sales Team,

I’ve got an idea for next week – see the attached file. I’d like to hear what you think about my suggestion.
I think Hatem and Patricia may be interested, so I’ve copied them in too. Let’s talk more at the meeting next week.

Regards, Samir

- See more at: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-emails/unit-2-sending-and-receiving-emails#sthash.fbYDTEz0.dpuf

Layout and punctuation

Starting an email: We normally write a comma after the opening phrase. We start a new line after the name of the person we’re writing to.

Finishing an email: We normally write a comma after the closing phrase. We start a new line to write our name at the end.

Formal	Informal
Dear Mr Piper, I am writing to thank you for all your help. I look forward to seeing you next week. With best wishes, John Smith	Hi Tim, Many thanks for your help. See you next week. Cheers, John

Phrases for starting and finishing

Here are some phrase which we use for starting and finishing emails. We use these in formal and informal emails:

Starting phrases	Dear Tim, Good morning Tim,
Ending phrases	Regards, With best wishes, With many thanks and best wishes,

You also need to know which phrases to use only in a formal email or an informal one:

	Formal	Informal
Starting phrases	Dear Mr Piper, Dear Sir or Madam,	Hi Tim, Hi there Tim, Morning/Afternoon/Evening Tim, Hello again Tim,
Ending phrases	Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully, Yours truly,	Rgds, Cheers, Bye for now, See you soon,