WRITING AN E-MAIL

SUGGESTIONS:

electronic communication should be brief and concise. The main information should
be found, if possible, in the first lines. Long sentences, unnecessary words or
expressions difficult to understand are to be avoided. The content should be expressed
in a direct way. It is therefore useful for the sender to make a list with the main ideas
before composing the e-mail;

always write the subject of your e-mail by using a short, explicit and exact title. The
role of the subject is to summarize in a few, clear words the content of the message
and to make the recipient read the text of the message as soon as possible;

when contacting a client or an unknown person avoid long or complicated greeting

formulas: Hello is enough. Do not forget to use a simple, neutral language, keeping
a professional tone all along;

when writing to a friend, mate, etc., a formal style is not necessary; you can use the
informal language which includes abbreviations (Im, Hed, etc.);

sign your e-mail with complete data: name, company, link, e-mail contact and address,
telephone and fax;

pay attention to the layout: use spaces between paragraphs, indented lines and do not
forget punctuation marks. If the text is very long use subtitles for each paragraph;

when answering an e-mail do not include information that is not required and be
relevant.

Observation:
When adding documents to an e-mail, the verb to attach is used; when adding
documents to a letter, the verb to enclose is used.
FORMAL AND INFORMAL EXPRESSIONS IN E-MAILS:
Formal expressions

Further

to

Informal expressions
your

e-mail

of

the

seventeenth of July.

Re your e-mail of the seventeenth of

July

I apologize for not answering, but

Sorry I didnt answer, but

I am writing with regard to

Just a note about

I am delighted to tell you that..

Good news!

I regret to inform you that

Unfortunately

Please find attached

Ive attached the

I would be grateful if you could/ I

Please could / can you?

Let me know if you need anything

wonder if you could/ Do you think

you could?

Do not hesitate to contact me should

you need any further information.

else.
any

Ill keep you posted.

I am looking forward to seeing you

See you soon. Best regards / wishes.

will

inform

you

on

developments.

soon / I am looking forward to

hearing from you soon. My best
regards.
Observation:
1. A neutral / formal e-mail can begin with Hello. However, it can also start with:
Dear Madam,/ Dear Sir, / Dear or Sir or Madam, / Dear Client, if you do not know the
name of the recipient.
Dear Mr. Smith / Dear Mrs. Jones / Dear Miss Black, / Dear Ms. Roberts if you know
the name of the recipient.
2. A neutral / formal e-mail can end with:
Yours faithfully, if you begin with Dear Sir, (you do not know the name of the recipient).
Yours sincerely, if you begin with Dear Mr. Smith, (you know the name of the recipient).
3. An informal e-mail can begin with Hi. It can also begin with:
Dear Mary / Tom, etc.
4. An informal e-mail can end with any formula:
Love, / Thanks, / Write to me soon, / I hope to hear from you soon, etc.
Examples:
a) Formal e-mail:

Hello,
I read on your website that you offer publishing services. I would like to inquire about the
procedures involved in these services. Are the files transferred online, or are the titles sent by
CD to you by standard mail? How long does it usually take to produce approximately 500
copies? Are there any discounts on such a large quantity?
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I look forward to your response.
Jack Finley
Sales Manager, Young talent Inc.
(709) 567 3498
b) Informal e-mail:
Hi Tom,
Listen, weve been working on the Smith account and I was wondering if you could give me a
hand. I need some inside information on recent developments over there. Could you pass on
any information you might have?
Thanks,
Peter
Peter Thompson
Account Manager, Tri-State Accounting
(698) 345 7843
Exercises:
1. Fill in the blanks with one of the following words: see, attached, can, thanks, hi, love
.. Sue,
Thanks for the message. Sure Id . to come to the party. . I bring a friend? Ive
a couple of the photos we took at the concert in Feb. you next week.
Alice
2. Translate the following informal expressions:
Ca rspuns la e-mailul tu...
mi pare ru c nu i-am rspuns...
Te in la curent.
Spune-mi dac ai nevoie...
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i ataez fiierele.
3. Translate the following formal expressions:
V-a rmne ndatorat dac ai putea...
Dac avei nevoie de alte informaii, nu ezitai s m contactai.
V trimit n ata...
M bucur s v anun c...
mi cer scuze c nu am rspuns, dar...
Atept s v revd n curnd.

SPEAKING ON THE PHONE

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1. The phone and its accessories:

Landline;

Cordless / portable;

Receiver;

Pick up the receiver;

Dial the number;

Put the receiver down;

Hang up;

Mobile / Cellphone;

Battery charger;

Earphones;

Headphones;

Speaker;

Telephone directory;

The yellow pages;

Wifi phone

2. Answering the phone:

Hello, 523110;

Hello, Tom speaking;

Good morning, Johnson Accounting Ltd., how can I help you?

Pilgrim Publishing, this is Anne / Anne Baxter speaking. How can I help you /
Can I help you?

Observation:
With phone numbers, the letter o generally replaces zero as it is easier to pronounce.
When a number is repeated, the word double is used.
e.g. 523110 five two three, double one o
3. Introducing yourself:

Hello, its Gary calling;

Hello, Anne speaking;

Hey, this is Louise (informal);

Good evening, this is Jane Holmes. I was given your name by

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Observation:
a. If the interlocutor does not introduce himself / herself, we can ask the following questions:
-

Who is calling / speaking please?

May / Can I ask who is calling, please?

Excuse me, who is this / who is there?

Is that Mr. Smith? (in this case the answer will be: Speaking / No, it isnt. This is John
Parker).

b. We introduce ourselves by using this is or its. We never use Im.

c. When we want to find out if our interlocutor is willing / able to speak, we can ask:
- Is this a bad time?
- Am I disturbing you?
- Can you talk?
4. Asking to speak to someone:

Can / Could / May I speak to?

Can / Could you put me through to?

Id like to speak to

Hello, is Patricia in the office / at home?

Hi, is Polly there?

Can I have extension 8898?

Could you connect me to extension 8898?

5. Asking somebody to hold the line:

a. Just a minute / moment, please
b. One moment, please
c. Hold the line, please
d. Hold on, please
e. Hang on
6. Connecting / putting somebody through:

Just a moment, Ill put you through to the accounting department.

Yes, Mr. Smith is in. Im putting you through now.

Hold on, Im trying to connect you.

7. Taking and leaving messages:

Could you take a message?

Can I take a message?

Can / may I leave a message?

Could you tell him (that) I called?

Could / can you get him to call me back on 75396?

Would you like to leave a message?

8. Asking someone to repeat or write something down:

Can you repeat that, please?

Would you mind spelling that for me?

Could you speak up a little, please?

Can you speak a little slower, please? My English isnt very good.

Hold on a minute, Ill make a note of that.

Okay, Ive got it all down.

Let me repeat that just to make sure.

Did you say 33 Black Mountain St.?

9. Ending the conversation:

Thanks for calling. Bye for now.

I have to let you go now.

I have another call coming through.

I better run.

Ill talk to you again soon. Bye.

Observation:
When the conversation is suddenly interrupted because of technical problems, we can say:
-

You are breaking up.

Can you call me back?

Sorry, we were cut off.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

I) FORM:
1) Affirmative:
Subject + have/ has + been + verb + ing
Robert has been working part-time for two months.
2) Interrogative:
Have/ has + subject + been + verb + ing
How long has the manager been negotiating with his partners?
3) Negative
Subject + have/ has + not + been + verb + ing
I have not been waiting long.
II) USES:
The present perfect continuous is used:
1) to express an activity begun in the past and still in progress at the moment of speaking:
The Human Resource Officer has been waiting for them for an hour.
2) to express an action that began in the past and continued up to the moment of speaking,
being relevant to the current situation:
Someone has been smoking in here, I can smell it.
3) to express a repeated activity which irritates the speaker:
She has been asking me that silly question for almost a month.
III) TIME INDICATORS:
The time indicators are the same as for the Present Perfect Simple.
Observation:
The main difference between Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous is that
Present Perfect Simple is used when the focus is on the number of things that have been done,
whereas Present Perfect Continuous is used when the focus is on duration:
The Area Sales Manager has written three letters so far.
The Area Sales Manager has been writing letters for three hours.

Attention!
The adverbs of frequency (always, often, generally, usually, rarely, seldom ever, never,
occasionally, etc), can be used with several tenses:
1) Present Simple when we speak about present habits:
She rarely drinks coffee in the morning.
2) Present Continuous when we speak about present annoying habits:
John is often calling me late at night.
3) Past Simple when we speak about past habits:
She always answered a lot of calls when she was a secretary.
4) Past Continuous when we speak about past annoying habits:
They were usually making fun of everybody when they were younger.
5) Present Perfect Simple when we refer to activities at any time in a period up to now,
without being exact about the time:
I have never visited our subsidiary in York.

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

I) FORM:
1) Affirmative:
Subject + had + the third form of verb
I had finished the report.
2) Interrogative:
Had + subject + the third form of the verb+?
Had you finished the report?
3) Negative
Subject + had + not / hadnt + the third form of the form
I had not finished the report.
II) USES:
The past perfect simple is used:
1) to express an activity in the past happening before another activity in the past. In this case
we have two verbs: one of them is in the past perfect simple and the other is in the past
simple:
By the time we arrived there they had already left.
We had read the novel before we saw the film.
Observation:
The time indicators used here are generally by the time and before.
2) to express an action in the past happening before another moment in the past. In this case
we have one verb in the past perfect and a time indicator expressing anteriority:
By 2000 they had lived here for ten years.
Observation:
The time indicator used here is generally by (= not later than) + a word / expression
indicating time

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FUTURE TENSES
A. FUTURE SIMPLE
I.FORM:
1) Affirmative:
S + Will (ll) + verb
She will forgive you.
2) Interrogative:
Will + S + verb + ?
Will they come?
3) Negative:
S + will + not / wont + verb
She will not / wont forgive you.
II. USES:
The future simple is used:
1) to make a decision at the moment of speaking. In this case we often offer to do something
for someone:
Ill come with you.
Ill get you a cup of coffee.
2) to say what we think or to make a guess about the future:
Real Madrid will win the match tomorrow.
3) to talk about things that will happen for sure in the future:
Jane will be 20 next week.
4) to ask questions about the future when we are not sure if the person we are talking to
knows the answer:
Do you think Ben will marry Jane? (What is your opinion?)
III. TIME INDICATORS:
-

tomorrow;

the day after tomorrow;

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in the future;

next week / month, etc.;

TO BE GOING TO + INFINITIVE
I. FORM:
1) Affirmative:
S+ BE (am, is, are) + going + to + verb:
I am going to study more.
2) Interrogative:
BE (am, is, are) + S + going + to + verb + ?:
Are they going to help us?
3) Negative:
S + BE (am, is, are) + not + going + to + verb:
She is not going to come.
Observation:
Going is not translated with a merge into Romanian here. It has no meaning; it is simply
used as an auxiliary to form the future.
II. USES:
1) it expresses the speakers intention to do something in the future:
I am going to quit smoking.
2) to express the speakers feeling of certainty based on something he / she knows or can see
now:
The sky is black. Its going to rain.
III. TIME INDICATORS:
-

tomorrow;

the day after tomorrow;

in the future;

next week / month, etc.;

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