How to end an email in English like a native speaker | Study English

Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my English grammar lessons.

So what have I got for you today?

Well, I got some ways for you to sign off on your emails.

I have to admit, this is not the most exciting thing I've ever done.

But these are really practical suggestions for you.

We're all using email.

And we've been doing it for many, many years.

But it's amazing how many times people ask me, Well, how do I start?

And how do I end an email?

So we're going to focus today on the end of the email, okay.

It's not the same as a letter because, in most cases, letters are quite formal.

But when we're using email, even if we're using them to the boss, or somebody a little

bit more important than ourselves, then it's... it's always informal, okay.

So there's a different language to use.

Some of it is the same as we use in letters but sometimes it's different.

And sometimes people don't sign off on their emails at all.

Okay, so let me just give you a few examples.

Okay, so as always, I've got a list of 10 for you here.

So the first one is just the word regards.

Okay, so you've finished whatever you're saying, and then you just put regards, Harry.

Okay?

So it's just a very, very simple way.

Usually, that means that you... you know, the person reasonably well.

Yeah.

Okay.

So just regards, Harry.

And number two is a little bit similar to number one, here, we're using the expression,

best regards or kind regards.

Now, this is very similar to the letter format.

But again, it's about people that you know, and it might be somebody on a personal level,

rather than on a business email.

So best regards, Harry.

Kind regards, Dad.

Best regards, Mum.

Whatever it might be, we're just giving the person our best wishes for whatever we have

happened to tell them.

So I say it's very, very informal, but you don't like to sign up to formally.

So you want to give something less formal but not too informal.

So best regards, or kind regards.

So number three on my list is all the best.

Okay, so here, it's really for somebody who's not so close to you, but you'd like to be

kind, you'd like to be polite, okay.

So you'd use this sort of expression, all the best, okay.

So it means all the best for the future.

All the best for your business.

All the best in your adventure.

Whatever it might be.

Just all the best mean your best wishes, you're giving it all to the person that you're writing

to.

So all the best, Harry and sign off and press that button, and off the email goes.

Okay?

And here we are with number four.

And number four is best wishes.

Now here again, this is impersonal in some ways.

You don't know the person so well.

They're definitely not a close friend, they're definitely not a member of your family.

But there's somebody that you... you wish, again, to be polite to.

So best wishes, Harry, okay.

So it could be two members of your team in the office.

It could be something.... somebody that's is supplying you with some particular service,

okay.

Or, indeed, it could be somebody that you are dealing with in a business, and they're

no longer going to be your account manager, or they're no longer going to be the main

contact in that business.

And they're telling you that they're gone on to pastures new and new job.

So you write them a nice, a nice note to say, oh, it's been great working for you over the

last few years.

I really wish you the very best for your future career.

Best wishes.

Okay, so it tells them a lot.

It's been grateful, sort of what they've done in the past, but it's not getting too emotional

or too close to them, and just signed off best wishes.

Okay, we're halfway there.

So this is number five.

And number five is thanks, or indeed many thanks.

So this is usually a signature you would use over a series of a number of emails that you've

been writing back and forth to somebody.

Playing a little bit of ping pong.

Okay, so you've asked them a question.

They've given you some information.

You've asked them for something else.

They've given you some more information.

And when you get to the end of these, this trail of emails this ping pong, you just say

okay, yeah, I think I've got it now.

I think we're...we're really on the same page.

So many thanks.

So thanks for whatever you've done.

Many thanks, Harry.

Thanks, Harry and off it goes.

Okay, so here we are with number six and number six is looking forward to something.

Okay, now, really careful here with the grammar when we're using this looking forward to,

we follow it with the -ing or that gerund.

Okay, looking forward to meeting you.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Okay, looking forward to dealing with you in the future.

So this is the best way to finish that particular signature.

So you could use it when you're talking about the person who has replaced that account manager

that I spoke of before.

The person is going to be new contact in the supplier.

So you...you write them a note and you say, Oh, I believe Mary has moved on and you're

her replacement.

We had a really good working relationship with Mary.

Everything went really well.

Anytime we had a problem, we're able to talk to each other.

And so I'm just touching base with you to wish you the best in your new position.

And I'm looking forward to meeting you, Harry.

I'm looking forward to working with you, Harry.

I'm looking forward to carrying on a good relationship with your company.

Okay, so looking forward to and remember always that -ING, that gerund.

Okay, so the next three, we're going to take together seven, eight, and nine.

So these are very similar they are yours truly, your sincerely or sincerely yours, and yours

faithfully or faithfully yours.

You can write them in any way you wish.

But those are the three of them yours truly, yours sincerely, sincerely yours, yours faithfully

and faithfully yours.

And these are very, very business orientated endings to an email.

We use them all the time when we're writing letters.

And they've just carried on and carried forward to the... the emir... email format in which

we write to each other.

And you'll usually find these at the end of the letter you get from a solicitor, if you

get if you ever get to the end of the letter, and you just want to rip it up.

But if you get to the end, you'll see it.

Yours sincerely, yours truly, yours faithfully.

And you think, Oh, yeah, these people, they really don't have any feeling.

They don't have any connection with you because either they're writing to your demanding money,

or they're writing to you about some issue and you really don't want to go into that.

But it's just yours sincerely, yours truly, yours faithfully.

So these are formal and means they've no feeling they don't really mean anything.

And some people they just rattle it off.

In fact, it's probably a pro-forma type of email that they use, they just top and tail

it, they put your name at the top, they put a little bit of detail in the middle, and

then the ending is always going to be the same.

So they've just cut and pasted into an email.

So you can tell the way it's written that there is no sensitivity or no feeling to it.

So quite business-orientated.

And if you've got you want to write a really important business letter, then okay, and

if you don't know the person that you're writing to and Dear Sir or Dear Madam or Dear Mister,

well then, yes, yours faithfully, your sincerely, yours truly are the sort of endings that you

would like to use.

But if you know the person in any little way through business or personal, then you want

to do it in a slightly different way.

But for these 7, 8, 9 yours truly, yours sincerely, sincerely yours, yours faithfully, faithfully

yours, remember that they're much, much more formal.

Okay, so when we get to number 10, and believe that the best to last, so this is when you

can really write anything you want because these are endings to emails that you're sending

to your loved ones, your family, your closest of close friends, okay?

So it can be anything.

Lots of love, love and kisses, hugs, see you soon, missing you, can't wait to see you,

catch up soon, all of these types of expressions are ways that you can end an email in a very

nice, pleasant and loving way.

So they they have feeling unlike number 7,8,9, there's a lot of unity.

Or you're putting your own personal emotions, how you feel at that particular time when

you write in the email.

So you might be away in college and you miss your family.

It might be on a business trip and you want to make sure that the kids and everybody else

are okay.

You might be writing to a friend that you haven't seen for a long time or wishing them

happy birthday or congratulating them on some promotion or Christmas or whatever it might

be.

So you're just putting a little bit of you into that ending.

So you know, see you soon catch up soon.

Hugs and kisses.

Lots of love all of those, you can write it in any way that you wish.

So that's the end of the lesson for this week.

And hopefully, it wasn't as boring as I said it might be at the beginning.

So at the end of our lesson, you've had 10 tips and 10 ways in which you can sign off

on your email.

So when you practice those you'll be able to send, begin and end the perfect email.

So whether you're going to write an email with feeling or you're writing it to some

family member, or you're writing to a business contact, you're going to know the way in which

you can end up in an appropriate way.

Okay, so remember when I always press the button, subscribe to my channel and join me

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