Email Writing

EMAIL WRITING
Three steps to write an excellent informal email/letter
First thing’s first. What’s the difference between writing an email and writing a letter?
Although there are some slight differences, essentially the tone, structure and language stay
the same.
These days, an informal email question is much more likely to crop up in the B2 First exam
than a letter. So let’s see what that question might look like:
You have received this email from your English-speaking friend David.
Write your email. (You should write between 140 and 190 words)
Question taken from Cambridge Assessment English sample paper 1 for B2 First
Step One: Make a plan
Once you’ve turned over the B2 First Writing paper, and read the email question, ask
yourself these questions first. Addressing them will help you spark some initial ideas.
 Who are you writing to? Is it a friend, a family member or a classmate?
 What is the purpose? Maybe they’re asking for suggestions, advice or a favour
 What is the topic or theme? A holiday, party, cinema trip or city recommendation?
Next, it’s important to consider the content of your informal email/letter. Make sure you
spend the first fifteen minutes of your time thinking about these things and make some
notes:
Tone
The tone depends on who you’re writing to and the purpose. In this case of David, we know
he’s an English-speaking friend. So you want to keep the tone relaxed, chatty and informal.
Vocabulary
Brainstorm some good, B2 level, topic-based vocabulary related to holidays, your town,
history and travel, e.g. cable car, football stadium, monuments, sightseeing, views.
Think about any engaging, descriptive adjectives that could make your informal email or
letter more interesting, e.g. unmissable, bustling, the oldest, the best, the most spectacular,
the fastest, the cheapest.
Phrasal verbs e.g. get away, set off, get back and colloquial expressions e.g. Guess what! will
also help your B2 First informal email or letter sound natural and fluent. And if you can use
some idioms, then you’ve really hit the jackpot!
Grammar
Good grammar is key when doing your B2 First writing exam. And there are a few grammar
tricks to writing an informal email in English. Contractions are common for example. We’re
much more likely to say I’m than I am or We’d than we would.
You could also try using the second conditional to give advice such as If I were you… This is
sure to score you top marks in your Writing paper.
Punctuation
In a B2 First informal email/letter you can also be a bit more experimental with punctuation.
Try using exclamation marks, dashes (-) or ellipsis (…). If you’re making a list for friends, why
not use bullet points?
Structure
The best thing about writing informal emails and letters is that the layout more or less stays
the same every time. Your work should be clearly organised into paragraphs. And emails in
particular work well with short simple sentences. An ideal structure for any email or letter
is Opening, Main body and Closing, which we’ll look at in more detail now.
Step Two: Write it
Now you’ve made your plan, you should be ready and raring to go! Here’s how to put it all
together and write the perfect B2 First informal email/letter.
Opening
There are a few different ways to start an informal email/letter in English:

 Hi David,
 Hello David,
 Dear David,
Hi is much more common in an informal email. Whereas Dear is more appropriate in an

informal letter. After you’ve written the person’s name, always remember to write a comma
then start a new line.
Introductory sentence
The opening is normally followed by an introductory sentence. This sets the tone of the
email, shows your interest in the reader or refers back to a previous correspondence.
 How have you been?
 How are things?
 Thanks so much for your last email/letter.
 Sorry I haven’t been in touch for such a long time.
Main body
This is where you introduce the topic of your B2 First email/letter. Remember to look back at
the question and answer any questions from the sender. In the case of David, he’s writing to
ask for recommendations for his friends. So you want to include lots of language for making
suggestions. Here are some phrases you could use:
 It’s great to hear that…
 You must tell them to visit…
 Why don’t they visit…?
 They should definitely go to…
 I’d really recommend (+ verb ing or subject + base infinitive)

Connecting ideas
To keep your informal email flowing and natural sounding, use some informal connectors to
link your ideas. Here are some examples:
 And
 But
 Well,… (to introduce a new topic)
 Anyway,…(to go back to a previous topic)
 Oh, by the way…(to add additional information)
 As for…
Final paragraph
The closing paragraph of your B2 First informal email/letter should be one or two sentences
before you sign off and say goodbye. It could be to make an excuse to finish the letter/email,
or leave the reader with some kind of action they need to take.
 I hope they have a nice time on their trip!
 Let me know if they need any more information.
 I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
 Have a good one, and let’s catch up soon.

Closing
This is where you end your informal email/letter and write your name. Remember, never
end with the word Bye. Instead use one of the informal and neutral phrases below. And
don’t forget to write your name underneath.
 Take care!
 See you soon!
 All the best,
 Best,
 Lots of love,
Step Three: Check it
Always take five minutes to check your informal email/letter at the end. Ask yourself these
questions:
 Have I answered all parts of the email question?
 Is the tone friendly and informal?
 Do I use enough topic based vocabulary?
 Is my spelling, grammar and punctuation correct?
 Does it look like a letter/email?
 Have I opened and signed off appropriately?

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EMAIL WRITING

Three steps to write an excellent informal email/letter

Step One: Make a plan

Step Two: Write it

There are a few different ways to start an informal email/letter in English:

Hi is much more common in an informal email. Whereas Dear is more appropriate in an

Step Three: Check it

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