kỹ năng viết email bằng tiếng anh

Thank you for your email. Please, change your reservation as soon as possible. If you wait until the day of travel, you will have less chance of obtaining a place on the later sailing.we will reserve the room for you

Formal Letters and E-mails in English

Introduction:

1 Look at this business e-mail

1.1 What is it asking the reader to do?

1.2 Identify the different parts of the e-mail body (opening greeting; contents; closing remarks)

Opening greeting: ………

Closing remark: ………

1.3 Which part of the e-mail is the most formal and polite? Underline the expressions that refer to this style ……… ……… 1.4 Identify in the e-mail body three different verb structures:

Imperative: ……… If-clause (conditional sentence) ……… Conditional: ………

2 What are the following extracts about? Underline the REQUESTS for action

A Thank you for your e-mail Please, change your reservation as soon as possible If you wait until

2.1 In the third extract ( C ) above, the writer used a conditional form Change it into a direct request using an imperative form How does this change the effect?

………

………

Language Summary:

ƒ Writers of formal letters may need to request an action by the reader Conditional clauses are

useful because they allow the writer to make a request that will fit a number of different

circumstances:

If you have already paid this bill, please ignore this letter (Phrased in this way in case the reader

is offended by the request for late payment.)

ƒ Conditional sentences are also used to encourage readers to do a wide range of things which the business or organisation wants:

If you have not yet used all your tax allowance for the year, let us know and we recommend further investment opportunities (The writer wants to do more business with the customer and

makes a suggestion of something the reader might want to do.)

Writers need to be able to vary their style to suit the request

ƒ Imperatives are used when the action by the reader is expected or understood:

Thank you for your request for an application pack Please complete the enclosed and return by the closing date (The action by the reader is expected, because they have asked the application

pack.)

ƒ Actions in which the writer can demand from the reader are also expressed as a simple

imperative:

Please telephone your account manager to discuss the lack of funds in your account (The writer

does not need to soften this, because the reader is in the wrong!)

Both uses of imperative are generally preceded by please

ƒ Actions which are more difficult or are unexpected are requested through conditional forms and modals They are built around a basic imperative clause:

Please e-mail us, and we will send your password

Combining conditionals and modals to make requests

A Match the statements in column 1 to the actions that are requested in column 2

1 2

1 If you could sign the enclosed contract, we will complete

the necessary arrangements

2 We would be glad to send further information if you could

confirm your contact details

3 We would be very grateful if you could complete the

attached questionnaire It should not take more than 20

minutes

4 If you could possibly ask your friends to take part too, we

will send you some additional sponsorship forms

5 If you are having problems, please read the FAQ page on

our website first

6 We would be extremely grateful if you could enclose two

passport-sized photographs with your signature on the

back

_ a) Don’t e-mail us!

_ b) Send your address

_ c) Fill in a form

_ d) Add your signature to a legal document

_ e) Find more people to help a charity

_ f) Send evidence of your identity

B Which are the easiest actions and which are the most difficult for the reader to accomplish? How is

this reflected in the language?

………

Language Summary:

ƒ In English direct instructions are often avoided because they can be considered rude The form If

you could… is a very common polite form of request for an action by the reader

ƒ Requests for difficult actions are preceded or followed by conventional forms such as we would be

(very / most / extremely) grateful; we would be glad; we would be pleased; if you could possibly …

E.g.: We would be extremely grateful if you could send us your passport number

If you could possibly make an appointment next week, we would be grateful

Language Practice

1 Imagine you work for an online bank You have made these notes on some possible customer problems Write an appropriate request for these actions so that a standard e-mail can be sent to every customer

a) customer requires more information

b) customer wants free virus protection

software

c) customer receives request for account

details and password

d) customer wants to know when the new

account is ready for use

fill in details below download from our website ignore and contact us immediately

send a daytime contact number or e-mail address, we will confirm when the new account

is ‘live’

2 Think of a situation when you need to write a formal letter or e-mail requesting an action

ƒ Make notes on the key information to include

ƒ If you are working in class, give your notes to a classmate and ask them to write the letter or e-mail

ƒ Have a look at the following unit section for tips on structure and organisation of formal letters

E-mail abbreviations

ƒ E-mail users have adopted abbreviations with enthusiasm, primarily because they enable users to insert common phrases into their correspondence quickly and easily This is a list of the most commonly used

abbreviations in semi-formal e-mails:

AFAIK

AKA

ASAP

F2F

FWIW

FYA

FYI

As far as I know Also known as

As soon as possible Face to face

For what it’s worth For your amusement For your information

IMHO IMO IOW IRL NRN PLS POV

In my humble opinion

In my opinion

In other words

In real life

No reply necessary Please

Point of view

Expressiveness in online communication

ƒ Ever since the early days of e-mail, Internet correspondents have devised a series of “emoticons” using typed characters to convey feelings, to suppress the absence of F2F immediate understanding of the

state-of-mind Characters such as :-) , :-O or :-( are universal Conveying other types of emotions,

such as raising the voice, or lowering it and emphasising a certain expression, can also be done by using the keyboard:

Asterisks: Enclosing a statement in asterisks can add the same sort of light emphasis given by the use

of italics Instead of saying:

It is really important that you reply to this message,

you can say:

It is *really* important that you reply to this message

Notice how changing the placement of asterisks produces a different message:

It is really important that *you* reply to this message

Capitalization: Capitalizing a word or phrase can also emphasise the point:

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but you really have to make the payment TODAY

Overuse of capitals can be offensive Be sure to avoid typing messages in all uppercase letters, which creates the impression of shouting:

I WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR THE POST OF COMPUTER TECHNICIAN WHICH WAS ADVERTISED IN…

Letters

Tips for writing letters:

ƒ If you are writing to a friend of yours, or to your brother / sister / cousin / niece, you address him/her

using: Dear and his/her name (e.g Dear Sam; Dear Claire)

ƒ If you are writing to an aunt / uncle, you address him/her using Dear + kind of relation + name: e.g

Dear Uncle John

ƒ If you are writing to your mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, you write Dear + kind of relation (e.g Dear Mum, Dear Grandma)

ƒ In formal letters, if you know the name of the recipient, you sign using Yours sincerely and your full name If you don’t know the name of the recipient, you sign using Yours faithfully and your full name

Study these formats of formal letters:

Formal letter when you know the name of the

recipient:

3, Bridge St., Carlisle

2nd March 2007

(sender’s address)

Tom Potts,

Personnel Manager,

Wrights Paints,

46 Cannon St.,

London

(recipient’s address)

Dear Mr Potts,

Yours sincerely, James Rogers

Formal letter when you don’t know the name of the recipient:

3, Oak St., Newcastle, England

5th June 2006

(sender’s address)

The Manager, The Grand Hotel,

12, Jasmine Road, Sydney,

Australia

(recipient’s address)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Yours faithfully, Jane Winters

Semi-formal letter showing respect for the

recipient with whom you are on friendly terms:

6, Burns St.,

Useful language for letter writing