Writing Emails
An email is short, but it has a fixed shape. Learn the shape and this becomes one of the most reliable tasks on the paper.
Step 1 — Understand the task
Before writing a single word, answer the four questions.
- Form: an email. It needs a subject line, a greeting, a body in short paragraphs and a closing.
- Reader: are you writing to a friend, or to someone in authority such as a principal, a manager or an official? This decides everything about your language.
- Purpose: to inform, to invite, to request, to apologise, to complain or to thank. The purpose sets your first sentence.
- Length: normally short. If a word limit is given, keep close to it.
Formal or informal?
| Formal email | Informal email | |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting | Dear Sir / Dear Madam / Dear Mr Perera, | Dear Kamal, / Hi Kamal, |
| Opening | I am writing to… / I should be grateful if… | How are you? / I hope you are well. |
| Language | Full forms: I am, do not, cannot | Short forms are fine: I'm, don't, can't |
| Requests | Could you please… / I should be grateful if you would… | Can you… / Could you… |
| Closing | Yours faithfully (Dear Sir/Madam), Yours sincerely (named person) | Best wishes, / Love, / See you soon, |
| Signature | Your full name, and your position if relevant | Your first name |
Step 2 — Study a model
Read it twice. The first time for what it says; the second time for how it is built.
Question: You are the secretary of your school's English Literary Association. Write an email to the principal requesting permission to hold an inter-house speech competition, giving the date, the place and the reason.
Subject: Permission to hold an inter-house speech competition
Dear Sir,
I am writing on behalf of the English Literary Association to request your permission to hold an inter-house speech competition.
We should like to hold the competition in the school hall on Friday, 18 September, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The purpose is to give students of all three houses an opportunity to practise public speaking in English before the annual prize-giving.
The association will make all the arrangements, and two teachers of the English department have kindly agreed to act as judges. We shall ensure that the hall is left in order.
I should be grateful if you would kindly grant us permission.
Yours faithfully,
K. Perera
Secretary, English Literary Association
Why this answer works
- The subject line states the purpose in a few words. It is not a sentence and takes no full stop.
- Dear Sir is used because the reader is addressed by position, not by name — so the closing must be Yours faithfully.
- The first sentence says who is writing and why. There is no long introduction.
- The second paragraph gives all the details asked for in the question: the date, the place and the reason.
- The third paragraph anticipates the reader's likely concerns — arrangements, supervision, tidiness — which is what makes it a persuasive request rather than a bare one.
- The fourth paragraph makes the request explicitly. A request that is only implied is often refused.
- The signature gives the name and the position, because the writer wrote in an official capacity.
Step 3 — Identify the structure
Strip the model down to its skeleton. This is what you will reuse, whatever the topic.
- Subject line — the purpose in a few words.
- Greeting — matched to the reader.
- Paragraph 1 — who you are (if the reader does not know) and why you are writing.
- Paragraph 2 — the details: what, when, where, and any facts the question supplies.
- Paragraph 3 — anything that supports the purpose: reasons, reassurances, arrangements.
- Paragraph 4 — the request, invitation or conclusion, stated plainly.
- Closing and name — matched to the greeting.
Step 4 — Guided practice
Do not write a whole email yet. Complete these steps first. Write them out by hand.
Task: Your class is organising a shramadana campaign to clean the school garden. Write an email to your class teacher informing her and requesting permission.
- Write the subject line only. Six words at most.
- Write the greeting and the closing that go together. (Careful — you know the teacher's name, so which closing is correct?)
- Write one sentence stating who you are and why you are writing.
- List four details you must include: the date, the time, the place, and what will be done.
- Write one sentence giving a reason why permission should be granted.
- Write one sentence making the request politely.
Now put those pieces together in order and read the result aloud. You have written an email without ever facing a blank page.
Step 5 — Write independently
Close this page. Take a fresh sheet, set a timer for fifteen minutes, and write one of these in full without looking back at the model.
- Formal: Write an email to the manager of a bookshop asking whether a particular book is available, what it costs, and whether it can be sent to your town.
- Formal: Write an email to your principal apologising for your absence for three days and asking how you may catch up with the missed work.
- Informal: Write an email to a friend in another town inviting them to spend the school holidays with your family, and telling them what you plan to do.
- Informal: Write an email to a cousin thanking them for a birthday present and telling them your news.
Step 6 — Correction checklist for emails
- Is there a subject line, and does it state the purpose in a few words?
- Does the greeting match the reader — Dear Sir / Dear Mr Perera / Dear Kamal?
- Does the closing match the greeting? (Dear Sir → Yours faithfully; Dear Mr Perera → Yours sincerely.)
- Is the first sentence about why I am writing, not about the weather?
- Have I included every detail given in the question?
- Are the paragraphs short and separate, one idea in each?
- Is the register consistent — no Hi in a formal email, no I should be grateful to a friend?
- Have I made the request or purpose explicit, rather than leaving the reader to guess it?
- Is my name at the end?
- Have I checked verbs, articles, plurals, capital letters and full stops?
Next
Letters
The longer relative of the email, with addresses and a stricter layout.
Notices
Shorter still, and the marks are easy once you know the form.
Model Answers
More full answers with notes explaining why they work.