Writing emails in English is always difficult even if you can now depend on autocorrect and translation services. Here are the most common mistakes in email writing.
MOST COMMON EMAIL MISTAKES
Here we have a compilation of the some of the most common email mistakes that you can look out for.
Verb tense
- When talking about set times or scheduled event, use present simple
- The meeting is at 10AM on Monday.
- The plane leaves at 2PM.
- For things that are happening right now, use present continuous
- I’m attaching the documents you requested.
- I’m working on the report right now.
- When speaking about something finished, use past tense
- I picked Lucia up yesterday at the airport.
- We finished the meeting at 2pm.
- For things that started in the past and are still happening now, use present perfect/present perfect continuous
- He has been calling him all morning.
- They have worked here for 7 months now.
Subject-Verb agreement
Another common mistake is subject-verb agreement. This means that we need to know if the subject is singular or plural in order to choose the correct verb.
- Know the difference between subjects that are countable and uncountable
- The furniture was delivered this morning. (furniture is uncountable and singular)
- My work is becoming more difficult by the day. (work is uncountable and singular)
- Identify singular and plural subjects
- People are working hard. (people is countable and plural)
- The family is vacationing in the south of Spain. (family is countable and singular)
Articles
Click here to watch a video about when to use the, a and an. Below are some of the most common mistakes.
- We don’t usually use ‘the’ with people or climate change
Thepeople want to come.- Most
of thepeople are friendly. Theclimate change is a big problem that needs to be dealt with.
- Use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with professions
- She’s an IT specialist.
- He’s a Personal Assistant.
Word Order
There a number of things to keep in mind when thinking about word order. Here are just a few.
- Subject + verb + Object is the foundation for any English sentence.
- She climbed the tree.
- He ate his lunch.
- Adjective + noun
- The black cat crossed his path.
- The thin man was talking to the quiet woman.
- Click here to learn more about when and where to use Adverbs of frequency
- I sometimes go early to work.
- Sometimes, I go early to work.
- I go early to work sometimes.
- Remember: Manner, Place, Time
- He drove unhappily (manner) to work (place) every morning (time).
- Susan is meeting her boss at headquarters (place) on Monday morning (time).
Prepositions and collocations
There are lots of things to know about prepositons. Here are some examples.
- Click here to learn more about Prepositions of Time
- I’ll meet you at the office in 5 min.
- I have a meeting on Monday at 3.
- Prepositions of place
- Linda works in the office in front of John.
- Does your dog always sleep on the couch?
- Dependent prepositons
- I think we can recover from last year’s losses.
- Can I help you with something?
- Click here to learn more about Phrasal verbs and multi-word verbs
- I’ll put you through to Mr. Sacks now.
- Do you down what time the meeting will be over?
Writing Rules
Now that you have seen Writing emails in English, take a look at our other Writing Rules posts:
Writing Rules: writing the date in English
Writing Rules: repeating subjects
