How to start an email in English: a greeting for every situation

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It is said that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, and that is why the way you greet and introduce yourself is so important, both in person and in digital communications. As it is the first line that is read, a greeting that is too formal or, on the contrary, too close, can change the tone of the entire email and make it difficult for us to achieve our communication objective.


In general, there are two types of situations that require different greetings: When we saudi arabia phone number list the name of the person we are writing to and when we don't. The first case usually occurs in more informal situations, or when there has been a series of previous communications, while the second occurs in institutional communications.



When we know the name
This is the best case scenario, because we know exactly who we are writing to, and therefore the relationship with that person. This way, we will select a greeting that fits the situation.

In order of informality, we have the following options:


Downloadable Guide: Learn to Write Better Emails in English


· The closest thing to do is to start with a greeting, like “ Hi Karen ” , just like we would do if we met in person. It reads quickly and gives a sense of closeness.

· If, in addition to the name, we know the approximate time at which the person will read our email, we can start with something like " Good morning Tim " , or even shorten it to " Morning Tim ".