Writing a formal e-mail 4M

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 4

Lesson goals

In this lesson you will learn how to write a formal e-mail in English.

You don't know the name of the person you are writing to?

Greeting

Dear Sir / Madam,

Ending

Yours faithfully,

You know the name of the person you are writing to?

Greeting

Dear Mr Smith,

Dear Ms Smith,

Ending

Yours sincerely,

Introduction (First paragraph)

* Who you are (name, age, gender, country) and the purpose of the e-mail (complaint, request something, etc.)

My name is Jelle van den Berg. I am a fifteen-year-old boy and I live in the Netherlands.

I am writing to you because...

More opening sentences 

(First paragraph)

I am writing in response to ...

I would like to apply for the job of waitress...
I saw your advertisement ...

I am writing in reference to the advertisement as posted in the New York times. 

Second paragraph

*Relevant information behind the writing of the e-mail 

I would like to improve my English language skills. I already have a Cambridge certificate. 

I am dissatisfied because I received the wrong book. 

 

Third paragraph

*What action you expect the recipient to take

Could please tell me how much the English course costs?

I would be grateful if you could tell me if I can send the book back.

Closing sentence 

I hope to hear from you soon. 

I look forward to hearing from you soon. * 

*don't forget that you always use hearing when you choose "to look forward to".

Learn by heart!

Closing (formal e-mail)

Kind regards/Yours sincerely/Yours faithfully

White space

Your name and your surname 

Word order 

• Who - does - what - where - when
• first the place, than the time

Punctuation

 . full stop ( at the end of a sentence)

 , comma

                -Jimmy and Johnny hate German, but they love science.

                -Jimmy and Johnny also like gym, history and French.

 ? question mark

 

Capital letters

-starts a new sentence                    This is me. That's you.

-for names of things                       We went to Disney World.

-I (when talking about yourself)   I love English.

          When writing, make sure you pay attention to:

Your turn!

Rewrite the whole sentence, using correct punctuation and capitals.

my brother works at the jumbo supermarket

my brother sister and I watch netflix every night in my room

why are you laughing

make sure your spelling is in order when writing in english

be careful your sentence is not too long it is important to know when to start a new sentence

Troublesome words

where - were

where: place

                  That's where she found the gun. 

were: form of "to be"; a verb

                   They were very tired after their trip.

Your turn!

Write the missing word (not the whole sentence).

Choose between where and were.

We ...... on top of the mountain when it started to snow.

Do you know ..... I left my car keys?

More practice... 

You are writing a formal e-mail to Mrs Evans. How do you begin your formal e-mail?

1. Dear Sir/Madam,
2. Dear Miss,
3. Dear Mr Evans,
4. Dear Mrs Evans,

Translate into English:
Ik zou graag een rondleiding hebben door Londen.

Improve the sentence:
I want more information about your company.

Which sentence is grammatically correct? (also look at spelling)

1. I'm looking forward to hearing from you
2. I look forward to hear from you
3. I am looking forward to hearing from you
4. I looked forwards to hear from you

Translate:
Is het mogelijk om korting te krijgen?

Translate:
Ik heb interesse in uw voorstel.

Translate:
Ik ben een 16 jarige jongen.

Translate:
Ik zou een paar vragen willen stellen.

Do's

- Always write 'I' with a capital letter

- Always make sure your spelling and grammar is correct

- Write the first letter of a month with a capital letter (January)

Don'ts

- Don't use slangwords (spreektaal)

- Don't abbreviate words;
 I am --> not I'm

Never use gonna / wanna / ain't

Writing practice test 

(open book test) 

Next week (Monday) you are going to write a practice test.

Bring your dictionary English-Dutch, Dutch-English, English-English.