1: Hi, I'm Mike.

2: Welcome to Oxford Online English.

6: In this lesson, you can learn how to write an email in English.

11: Do you need to write emails at work?

15: Are you worried that your emails aren't clear, or that you make mistakes in English?

20: In this lesson, you can see a how to write clear, natural-sounding emails easily and

26: quickly.

28: We'll show you how to write an email in English from beginning to end, in simple,

35: clear steps that you can follow right now!

40: Let's start at the beginning.

47: With emails, you can start like a letter.

50: For example:

51: Dear Lina, Dear Sir/Madam,

56: Dear Mr Hill,

58: However, emails are generally much less formal than letters.

64: Use a greeting with 'dear' only if you're writing something formal.

69: So, what else can you use?

74: Many emails start with hello, or hi plus the person's name.

79: For example,

81: Hello, Hi Ryan,

84: In many business emails, you'll follow the greeting with something like:

88: I hope you're well.

92: or How are you?

97: In business emails, these are simply polite phrases, and they don't generally need an

104: answer.

105: For more informal emails, you can start with just the word hi or hey, plus a comma:

113: You can also just write the person's name plus a comma.

118: This is a more professional style, even though it's more informal.

122: It's best with people you already know.

127: For a very informal email, you might not need a greeting at all.

133: This is also true if you're sending several emails to the same person in a short time:

139: you don't need to write a greeting every time.

143: Let's review quickly:

146: For very formal emails, use a greeting with dear plus a name, like a letter.

154: For most everyday emails, use either hello or hi plus a name.

162: For less formal emails, use hi or hey without a name, or don't use a greeting at all.

169: Okay, but what next?

175: After your greeting, you should explain why you're writing.

179: Make this as short as possible.

182: If you're writing to someone who receives hundreds of emails every day, you need to

187: make your purpose clear quickly.

192: Someone who's very busy won't spend a lot of time trying to work out what you're

197: trying to say!

200: How can you do this?

203: Start with a simple phrase, like:

206: I'm writing regarding.

209: I wanted to follow up on.

212: I would like to ask about.

215: These phrases are slightly more formal.

218: Let's see how you could use them:

222: I'm writing regarding the issues we've been having with our database system.

230: I wanted to follow up on our meeting last week and confirm our plans for this month.

237: I would like to ask about the new budget and whether this will affect our department.

245: In a more informal email, you wouldn't use a phrase like this.

249: You might ask a more direct question or make a direct statement, like this:

256: Do you know when the database issues will be fixed?

260: Let's confirm our plans for this month.

266: How will the new budget affect our department?

271: If you're writing because you want to find a solution to a problem, here are some useful

277: phrases:

278: I'm concerned about. or I need to bring something to your attention.

286: Again, these are more formal phrases.

290: Let's see how you can use them:

294: I'm concerned about the number of sick days staff have been taking recently.

300: I need to bring something to your attention: using outdated software puts us at risk of

307: malware infections and data loss.

312: Now it's your turn.

314: Imagine that you're writing an email to your manager, colleague, or client.

319: You need to write an appropriate greeting, then write one or two sentences to explain

326: why you're writing.

329: Pause the video and do it now!

332: Start again when you've finished.

336: Ready?

338: Let's move on.

343: After you introduce why you're writing, you need to add more details and supporting information,

350: so that your reader understands the situation you're describing.

356: Put this information in a new paragraph.

361: This will make your email clear and easy to follow.

366: First, ask yourself what the person you're writing to needs to know.

375: With emails, less is more.

377: No one wants to read a very long email, and it's hard to make yourself clear if you

382: write too much.

384: So, try to limit yourself to two to three sentences.

390: Put your most important point first.

392: Let's look at some examples:

396: I'm writing regarding the issues we've been having with our database

402: Both clients and staff have been experiencing severe problems for several days now.

409: We are unable to update records or access information on customer interactions.

416: This is costing us large amounts of money, both in time spent trying to fix the problem,

424: and in lost sales.

426: Here's one more:

429: I'm concerned about the number of sick days staff have been taking recently.

436: Staff in the IT department have taken a total of 44 sick days so far this month, compared

442: to a total of 23 for last month, and just 18 for the previous month.

448: This is affecting productivity, and also placing a lot of stress on the employees who do come

456: to work.

457: In both cases, you're writing to describe a problem.

462: Your first sentence introduces the problem, and then your next paragraph gives more details.

471: You can see that in both examples, we use just two sentences, but you can include a

478: lot of useful information in two sentences.

482: If you have more than one point to make in your email, you can repeat this pattern: first

490: put a short sentence to introduce your point, then add a paragraph with two to three sentences

498: to add details.

501: You can move from one point to another using a phrase like:

506: There's one more thing I'd like to discuss with you.

511: Regarding.

513: I'd also like to ask you about.

518: Use one of these phrases to change the topic, and then introduce your next point.

524: For example:

527: There's one more thing I'd like to discuss with you.

531: It seems like the number of customer complaints has been increasing for three months.

538: Now, you can practice.

542: Take the email you started before.

544: Add a new paragraph, which should be two to three sentences long.

551: Add details to the point you introduced before.

555: Pause the video and do it now.

558: If you want extra practice, add another topic to your email, using one of the linking phrases

565: you just saw.

567: After you explain all the points you want to make, what should you do next?

575: When you write an email, you should make it clear what you expect from the person you're

582: sending it to.

585: Even if you're writing just to give the other person some information, it's a good

589: idea to make that clear.

593: Put your call to action in a new paragraph.

596: Again, putting each thing in its own paragraph makes your email structured and easy to follow.

603: So, what can you write here?

606: First, let's consider situations where you need the other person to do something urgently.

615: You could say:

618: Please. by tomorrow at the latest.

623: As a matter of urgency, you need to.

626: For example:

630: Please arrange a meeting of all department heads by tomorrow at the latest.

636: As a matter of urgency, you need to contact all the clients who may have been affected

642: by this data breach.

645: If your request is less urgent, you could use phrases such as:

650: Could you please.?

653: I would like you to.

656: For example:

659: Could you please talk to Matt in the HR department and clarify our options on this?

665: I would like you to design a poster to inform staff about the new policies.

671: With calls to action, you should think about your relationship with the person you're

678: writing to.

680: For example, saying something like, you need to. or I would like you to. is relatively

689: direct.

691: That's fine if you're a manager writing to one of your team, but it might sound inappropriate

699: if you write that to your manager.

703: This also depends on the corporate culture where you work.

707: Generally, if you aren't sure, it's better to be less direct.

714: For example:

715: I suggest that you contact all clients who may have been affected by the data breach.

720: Can I ask you to design a poster to inform staff about the new policies?

727: But, be careful!

730: Don't be so indirect that the other person doesn't understand what you need.

738: If you don't need a response from the other person, say something like:

743: This is just to keep you updated.

748: This doesn't require any immediate response, but please keep an eye on the situation.

755: Now, it's your turn!

758: Pause the video and add a call to action to the end of your email.

764: Think about who you're writing to, and make your call-to-action appropriately direct or

770: indirect.

772: So, now you're nearly finished.

775: What's left?

780: Finish your email with a sign-off and your name.

785: You can use a lot of the same sign-offs you can use in a paper letter, such as:

792: Regards, Best Wishes,

796: Kind Regards,

798: Like with greetings, you wouldn't generally use very formal sign-offs like Yours Sincerely

804: in an email.

806: You might see it sometimes, but only in very formal emails.

810: Don't forget to write each word of your sign-off with a capital letter, and put a

815: comma at the end.

818: The sign-offs you've just seen are neutral and can be used in almost any situation.

824: If you're writing something more informal, you might use a sign-off like:

833: Cheers, Take care,

836: In this case, you wouldn't capitalise each word, which is why care in take care has a

842: small ‘c'.

845: Like with greetings, you might not need a sign-off at all in an informal email.

851: Just write your name at the bottom, or don't write anything at all!

856: After you put your sign-off, add your name, and you've finished!

863: For example,

863: Regards,

865: Vijay

866: Cheers,

867: Katya

870: Now you know how to write a clear, effective email in English.

876: Let's put everything you've learned together.

884: To write an effective email in English, you need to:

890: 1. Use an appropriate greeting.

893: 2. Introduce your topic in a single sentence.

897: 3. Add details to your topic in a short paragraph.

903: 4. Add a call-to-action to explain what you need the other person to do.

909: 5. Use an appropriate signoff.

913: Let's do a longer example together:

917: Dear Lina,

918: I need to bring something to your attention: many staff are using very weak passwords on

925: their laptops and for database access.

929: Our work depends on keeping our clients' personal financial information safe.

936: If we lose our clients' trust on this issue, it will not be easy to recover.

942: I trust that you can see that it is better to take action now, rather than after something

949: goes wrong.

951: I suggest we make a rule that passwords must be a specific length, and that staff must

958: change their passwords at least once a month.

963: Please let me know what you think about this.

967: Regards,

970: Vijay

972: What do you think: could you write an email like this?

976: Try it!

978: Use words and phrases from the lesson.

981: Remember to organise your email into paragraphs, like we showed you.

987: This will make it easier to keep your ideas structured and clear.

993: For more free English lessons check out our website:

997: Oxford Online English dot com

1001: Thanks for watching! See you next time!