Emailing- Formal and Informal Phrases
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Lesson Plan Content:
Classify and rank the formal and informal business email phrases
Dear Sir or Madam
Dear Mr/ Ms/ Dr + family
name
To: All sales staff
Dear + first name
Dear all
Hi + first name
Hi everyone
Hi
first name
Hi guys
Thank you for your email
yesterday.
Thank you for your quick
reply.
Thanks for meeting me last
week to talk about…
I was delighted to receive
your email saying…
I was so happy to get your
email this morning about…
I am writing to you in
connection with…
I am writing to you in order
to…
I am writing to you
regarding…
I’m writing to you about…
I’m writing to you to…
About…
Re:…
I hope you are well.
How are you?
Hope you had a good
weekend.
Hope you enjoyed the
conference last week.
How’s it going?
How are things?
How’s life?
Wassup?
Alright?
Could you possibly…?
Would you mind…?
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014
Could you…?
Can you…?
Please find the information
attached.
I have pasted in the required
information below.
The information is attached.
Here’s the info you asked for.
I look forward to hearing from
you.
I look forward to hearing from
you soon.
I look forward to our next
meeting.
I’m looking forward to hearing
from you.
I’m looking forward to hearing
from you soon.
I hope we have the chance to
meet again soon.
Looking forward to hearing
from you.
Looking forward to seeing
you again soon.
Write soon!
Can’t wait until our next
meeting!
If you need any further
information, please do not
hesitate to contact me.
If you have any questions,
please do not hesitate to
contact me.
If you need to know anything
else, please let me know.
If you need any more info,
just drop me a line.
If anything isn’t clear, feel
free to ask.
Yours sincerely
Sincerely yours
Yours faithfully
Yours
Best regards
All the best
Best wishes
Cheers
See you
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014
If you get stuck, use these hints to help you:
There are nine categories
No more than three have the same function and level of formality, and sometimes just one
The smallest categories have four items and the biggest categories have ten items.
The functions of the categories are:
1
Opening greeting
2
Opening line – talking about last contact
3
Opening line – mentioning the topic
4
Opening line – friendly, sociable phrases
5
Requests
6
Mentioning contents
7
Closing line – Mentioning next contact
8
Closing line – Offering more help
9
Closing greeting
What are the general differences between formal and informal emailing phrases?
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014
Without looking back, brainstorm as many phrases as you can into the gaps below.
Dear Sir or Madam
Hi
Thank you for your email
yesterday.
I was so happy to get your
email this morning about…
I am writing to you in
connection with…
About…
I hope you are well.
Wassup?
Could you possibly…?
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014
Can you…?
Please find the information
attached.
Here’s the info you asked for.
I look forward to hearing from
you.
Write soon!
If you need any further
information, please do not
hesitate to contact me.
If you need any more info,
just drop me a line.
Yours sincerely
Cheers
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014
Terms of Use
Lesson plans & worksheets can be used by teachers without any fee in the classroom; however, please ensure you keep all copyright information and references to UsingEnglish.com in place.
You will need Adobe Reader to view these files.