How to say it
When you tell someone your e-mail
address, say each word separately:
- [email protected] = Betty
underscore Spencer at Crash dot d e
Greetings and endings
In a formal mail, start with Dear Mr/
Mrs/Ms Nolan. Then end with Yours
sincerely, or if you want to sound less
formal, use Regards or Best wishes.
If you are on first-name terms with the
recipient, you can write Dear Harry,
then close with Regards, Kind regards
or Best wishes.
When writing to a close colleague or
friend, you can start with Dear Harry
or Hi Harry and close with All the best,
Have a good week or Cheers (UK).
If you are writing to a company and
don’t have the name of the recipient,
you can begin with Good morning or
Good afternoon.
Commas
It’s common in US English to place a
comma after the greeting and after the
ending:
- Dear Betty,
- Best wishes,
In the UK, it’s no longer standard prac-
tice to place commas here.
The opening
After the greeting, start by thanking the
sender for their mail: Thank you for
your e-mail, or by referring to the last
time you were in contact: It was lovely
meeting you...
Start your e-mail message (the line af-
ter the greeting) with a capital letter:
- Thank you for getting back to me so
promptly.
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