A Comparison

Informal and formal emails

Informal Emails
Find the correct email address
Use the first name of a friend

Keep it short and brief and as if you are

talking
You can talk to the reader personally
You can use very short or incomplete
sentences
Use informal language as you use in informal
speech
You can use passionate language and show
your feelings eg. Sending you love and kisses
xxxxx
You can use spelling as if you were speaking
to a friend .eg. gonna
Use contractions as you do in informal
speech. e.g. Ive
You can use exclamation marks and question
marks and lot of them if you like!!!!!?????
You can leave out the subject of the sentence
Dont use CAPITAL LETTERS. Its like
shouting.
Use abbreviations e.g. ASAP
Show the examiner the idioms and set phrases
you know.
You can use a kind of text language. E.g. C U
You can use acronyms. BTW = By the way
You can use emoticons e.g a smiley face.

Formal Emails
Find the correct email address
Use the name of the person and their job if
you know it. Remember: You must use the
title (Mr. Mrs. Ms. Miss. Dr.) and the
surname or family name only. You cannot
use first names with a title as you can in
Malaysia. If you dont know the name, use
Dear Sir or Madam. Note the capital
letters.
Use enough information and give reasons.
Organise your information into one idea for
each paragraph.
You must keep it business-like
Use as many complex sentences as you can to
show your knowledge of these.
e.g 3rd conditional; clauses of reason, time,
polite requests,
Use formal language as you would in
business and a formal letter. Sometimes an
email can be a little more informal.
Keep the language neutral
e.g. Kind regards.
Always check your spelling
Never use contractions. Use full forms of all
words. e.g. I have
Only use commas and full stops.
Use full grammatical sentences
Dont use CAPITAL LETTERS. Its like
shouting.
Do not use abbreviations
Use formal language especially the longer
words from Latin etc. but do not become too
formal.
Never use text language
Never use acronyms
Never use these emoticons.

Guidelines for a Formal Email

1.

To: Check out who the best person to address your complaint to is.

2.

Subject Line: Be clear about what the email is about/short and accurate subject header.

3.

Proper salutation - Dear Mr Scott, Dear Sir/Madam

4.

1st paragraph (Introduce yourself if you need to.) State the purpose of your complaint.

5.

Explain and support your complaint.

6.

Outline a solution or request an action.

7.

Request a reply if you want one.

8.

Use the correct form of leaving. Yours faithfully, Respectfully, Regards etc

9.

Sign with your full name.

10. Proofread your email to ensure it is concise and accurate.

11. Proofread your email again to check spelling and grammar.
Tips:
Be polite
Be clear and firm
Be concise
The 5 rule-of-thumb - no more than 5 sentences per paragraph
- no more than 5 paragraphs per email
No indenting is needed but insert a line between each paragraph