In the previous issue we considered general points important when writing emails as well as ways of opening and closing an email. Now we will look at the phrases which will come in handy in the body of email.
After the salutation explain the context and the purpose of your e-mail. It is a good idea to refer to previous contact by saying I am writing in reply to your email of 5th May or Thank you for your letter of June 3rd or With regard to your enquiry of… State the reason for writing clearly at the very beginning of your email by saying We would like to (thank you for)… or We wish to (invite you)… or I am writing to (confirm)… or This is just to (remind you)…
If you have recently applied for a dream job, you will be happy to receive an email which says We are delighted to tell you that… or You will be pleased to hear that… Other candidates might receive an email that says: Unfortunately… or We regret to inform you…
If you have recently been on a sick leave you will want to apologize for not replying to your emails promptly. In that case you could say I am sorry about the delay in replying. If you are apologizing to a complaining customer you might want to use a stronger We sincerely apologize for (any inconvenience caused) and assure them that you take customer care very seriously promising that it would never happen again.
In case you wish to be helpful you can say If you wish, we would be happy to…or a more general If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. When you are the one who needs help consider using some of the following expressions: Could you (possibly)…, We would be grateful / I would appreciate it I wonder if you could… Please (let me know as soon as possible…), etc. The possibilities are varied.
