Business English: Email Phrases
Business email phrases are the formulaic language that lubricates professional correspondence. Openers: I hope this email finds you well, I’m writing to inform / enquire / confirm, As discussed in our meeting last week. Body: Could you please clarify, I would appreciate it if, Just to follow up on, Please find attached, As per your request. Closers: Looking forward to your reply, Please let me know if you have any questions, Best regards, Kind regards, Many thanks. These aren’t optional vocabulary — they are the register-establishing markers that make a professional email read as professional.
This worksheet builds B1–B2 fluency with formal email phrasing across the full email structure.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- Phrase bank organised by email function (opening, requesting, clarifying, attaching, closing)
- Email gap-fill: complete professional emails with appropriate formulaic phrases
- Register-shifting task: rewrite informal emails in professional register
- Original-writing task: respond to a workplace scenario using appropriate phrases
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes on register and signature conventions
Common challenges: Register slippage is the central B1–B2 issue — Hey, Cheers, no worries are casual; Dear, Kind regards, Best regards are professional. Greeting-sign-off mismatches sound jarring: Dear Mr Smith / Cheers (wrong). The Dear / Hi / Hello + First Name spectrum maps to relationship distance — first-name informal, Dear Mr X formal, Hi John between. Politeness-stacking: Could you possibly, if you wouldn’t mind, when you have a moment layered together can sound apologetic; one polite marker is usually enough.
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1 to B2, in intermediate and upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study — particularly working professionals. Tested in Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) through C1 Advanced (CAE) Writing and across BEC. Part of the Work & Money collection — the natural next step is Business English: Negotiation Language, which extends email phrasing into the active-bargaining domain.
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