I can read a business email and understand what is being asked, what has changed, and what needs to be done, and I know what parts an email has.
How a business email is built
How a business email is built
Now you'll read a business email: a company employee writes to Ms. Schneider, a customer, that the meeting has to be moved and suggests a new time. The email uses Sie and only what you already know: time prepositions (seit, ab, zwischen), polite requests (Könnten Sie …?, Ich hätte …), and clauses with dass and ob.
How the email is built: first der Betreff — the subject line; then die Anrede — the greeting: Sehr geehrte Frau …, Sehr geehrter Herr …, or, if you don't know who will read it, Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren. A comma follows the greeting, and the next word starts with a lowercase letter, unlike English after “Dear …,”. Then comes the text itself, and at the end Mit freundlichen Grüßen and the sender's name. If a file is attached, you write im Anhang.
Learn Vielen Dank für … and Mit freundlichen Grüßen as set phrases, without analyzing the endings: the rule for adjective endings comes in the next module.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Sehr geehrte Frau Schneider, Vielen Dank …” — after the comma, a lowercase letter.
• NOT “Hallo Damen und Herren” — a business email has Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.
• NOT “Liebe Damen und Herren” — English “Dear” covers both, but Liebe and Lieber are for personal letters.
The parts of a business email
After the greeting comes a comma, and the next word starts with a lowercase letter.
| Part of the email | What goes there | Example |
|---|---|---|
| der Betreff | the subject in one line | Frage zur Rechnung |
| die Anrede | the greeting and a comma | Sehr geehrter Herr Becker, |
| der Text | what you're writing about and what you're asking for | Könnten Sie mir antworten? |
| die Grußformel | a polite closing | Mit freundlichen Grüßen |
| der Absender | the writer's name | Lisa Müller |
Lesson notes
How a business email is built
Now you'll read a business email: a company employee writes to Ms. Schneider, a customer, that the meeting has to be moved and suggests a new time. The email uses Sie and only what you already know: time prepositions (seit, ab, zwischen), polite requests (Könnten Sie …?, Ich hätte …), and clauses with dass and ob.
How the email is built: first der Betreff — the subject line; then die Anrede — the greeting: Sehr geehrte Frau …, Sehr geehrter Herr …, or, if you don't know who will read it, Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren. A comma follows the greeting, and the next word starts with a lowercase letter, unlike English after “Dear …,”. Then comes the text itself, and at the end Mit freundlichen Grüßen and the sender's name. If a file is attached, you write im Anhang.
Learn Vielen Dank für … and Mit freundlichen Grüßen as set phrases, without analyzing the endings: the rule for adjective endings comes in the next module.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Sehr geehrte Frau Schneider, Vielen Dank …” — after the comma, a lowercase letter.
• NOT “Hallo Damen und Herren” — a business email has Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.
• NOT “Liebe Damen und Herren” — English “Dear” covers both, but Liebe and Lieber are for personal letters.