Brief explanation on how to write formal emails

1. FORMAL EMAILS AND LETTERS
 You need to be able to write a formal email or letter
for a range of situations:
 Job application
 Requesting information about a course
 Complaining about bad service
 Making contact with a company
 Characteristics of formal writing
 Standard phrases
 Formal vocabulary
 Longer sentences with linking words
 Passive structures
 Formal punctuation

2. STANDARD PHRASES FOR FORMAL WRITING
 Beginnings
 Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Mr/Ms Smith
 I am writing to apply for a job/request information
about/complain about
 Further to our telephone call, I would like to
 Middle
 Requests – I would be grateful if you could send me ..
 Questions – Would it be possible to stay for two weeks?
 Complaints – The service was unsatisfactory
 Job applications – I have a wide range of experience in …
 Endings
 I look forward to hearing from you.
 Yours faithfully (when beginning Dear Sir/Madam
 Yours sincerely (when beginning Dear Mr/Ms Smith)

3. FORMAL VOCABULARY
 Use more formal expressions and not many phrasal
verbs or idioms
 To postpone/cancel or confirm a meeting or trip
 To make arrangements to be collected at the airport
(not pick up)
 I would like to book
(not I want to book)
 Formal adjectives
 It was very large (not big)
 The temperature was very high (not I was so hot)
 I am efficent and hardworking (not I’m the best!)

4. LONGER SENTENCES AND
LINKING WORDS
 And linkers
 In addition, I would like to know the price of the trip
 Furthermore, I have a B2 level of English
 Moreover, we were unhappy with the quality of the food.
 Could you also provide us with some free samples?
 But linkers
 Although the music was wonderful, car parking was awful.
 However, I have some experience of project leading
 On the other hand, I would prefer to stay in a student
residence than with a family.
 Because linkers
 Consequently, we decided to change hotels.
 As a result, I have acquired good teamworking skills

5. PASSIVE STRUCTURES
 Instead of saying
Somebody made a mistake with the reservation = active
A mistake was made with the reservation= passive
PASSIVE = BE + PAST PARTICPLE
is a more impersonal and formal structure.
Other examples of the passive:
Somebody stole my passport > My passport was stolen.
Will they take us to the airport?>Will we be taken to the
airport?
A company has offered me a job >I have been offered a job.

6. FORMAL PUNCTUATION
 Do not use contractions
 I don’t smoke> I do not smoke
 They can’t > They cannot attend the meeting
 We won’t go > We will not go there
 Use commas
 After adverbs at beginning of sentences
 e.g. Additionally, Consequently, Finally, However,
 In non-defining clauses
 Tenerife, which is located off the coast of Africa, is a popular
tourist destination.
 Before and or but if the subject of the sentence changes
 I would like to know when the course starts, and how long it lasts.
 He asked me to finish the report, but I had to leave early.
 Do not use exclamation marks !! or dashes - in formal
writing.