CHIN2500 Chap.2 Writing Business Emails in English and Chinese
Writing Business Emails in English and Chinese
Writing Business Emails in English and Chinese treats email as a test of register. It sets out English openings and closings on a scale from formal to casual, the cc and bcc fields, fixed expressions for attachments, copies and replies, and formal closing sentences.
It compares the order of the lecture's Chinese sample emails, which build credibility before the purpose, with English samples that state the reason first, and drills the grammar of look forward to and should have. Throughout, the chapter treats register as a decision you make for each reader rather than a fixed habit, which is the judgement translation items reward.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Formality and deference
- 02
Openings and closings
- 03
Carbon copy and blind copy
- 04
Attachment expressions
- 05
Chinese and English email order
- 06
Look forward to plus -ing
Worked example · free
Match an email opening and closing to the reader
- 1(a) Address the team rather than using To Whom It May Concern, for example 'Dear Recruitment Team', and close with 'Kind regards'.
- 1(b) For a daily colleague, 'Hi' with the first name and a closing such as 'Thanks' or 'Cheers' matches the relationship.
- 1(c) For an unknown reader in a formal letter, 'Dear Sir/Madam' paired with 'Yours faithfully' keeps both ends at the same formality.
Key terms
- Carbon copy
- A carbon copy, or cc, sends a message to an extra reader whose name every recipient can see.
- Blind carbon copy
- A blind carbon copy, or bcc, sends a message to a reader whose name other recipients cannot see.
- Unintended audience
- An unintended audience is a reader who receives a message that was not meant for them.
- Deference
- Deference is the respect shown to a reader through the formality of greetings, closings and wording.
- Wording
- Wording is the choice of words in a message, which sets its tone and clarity.
Writing Business Emails in English and Chinese FAQ
When is To Whom It May Concern acceptable in an email?
It is a formal fallback when you genuinely cannot identify the reader. The Week 1 lecture advises against it in a job application: learn the reader's name and use it, or address the hiring manager or the relevant team instead, because a named greeting shows effort and care.
Why is 'I look forward to see you' wrong?
In look forward to, the word to is a preposition rather than part of an infinitive, so it must be followed by a noun or an -ing form. The correct sentence is 'I look forward to seeing you.' The same rule applies to related phrases such as in contrast to.
How do Chinese and English business emails differ in structure?
In the lecture's samples, Chinese emails open with a respectful greeting, introduce the writer's company, position and name, establish credibility and then state the purpose, ending with a wish and a full signature. The English samples state the reason for writing early and keep background short, ending with a brief sign-off and contact details.
What is the difference between Regards and Yours faithfully?
Regards and Kind regards are standard closings for colleagues and ongoing business contacts. Yours faithfully belongs to formal letters, traditionally when the writer does not know the reader's name, as with Dear Sir/Madam. Mixing a formal opening with a casual closing, or the reverse, makes a message look careless, so choose both from the same level.
How should I phrase an email that includes an attachment?
The lecture gives three standard forms: Please find attached, Attached please find, and I attach here. Name what the attachment is in the same sentence, for example the price list or the signed form, so the reader knows what to open. Check the file is actually attached before sending, since a missing attachment forces an extra message.
Assessment move
Collect the openings and closings from the lecture on two cards ordered from formal to casual, and practise pairing them for different readers. Rewrite one long email so that its purpose appears in the first sentence. Memorise the attachment and copying expressions with their exact grammar, then write five sentences using look forward to with an -ing form.
Finally, design your own email signature with name, programme and contact details, and compare one English and one Chinese sample email by listing the order of their parts. Keep a personal bank of ten fixed email phrases with their grammar, and before each group deadline check that the whole team uses the same opening and closing style.
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