How to Write a Business Email in English When You’re Not a Native Speaker

Do you ever find yourself staring at your e-mail wondering what to write? Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal.

In your own language, writing an e-mail would take two minutes. In English, you have probably rewritten the first sentence four times, and you’re still not sure if “Dear Mr. Johnson” sounds right or sounds like something from 1995.

If that feels familiar, you are not alone, and you are not bad at English. You just have not learned the structure yet, the actual skeleton that holds a business email together. Once you have that skeleton, the words get much easier to find.

Why Business Emails Feel Harder in English Than in Your Own Language

In your own language, you do not think about structure. You know, without trying, how formal to be, which greeting fits, how to close a message to your boss versus a message to a supplier.

In English, all of that knowledge disappears. You are translating word by word, and translation almost never produces natural English. A polite phrase in your language can sound cold, or strangely dramatic, once you move it into English.

This is not a vocabulary problem. It is a structure and tone problem, and both of those can be taught directly.

The Five Parts Every Business Email Needs

Every business email, no matter the purpose, follows the same basic shape. Learn this shape once and you can use it for hundreds of situations.

1. Greeting – who you are writing to and how formal the relationship is
2. Opening line – why you are writing, in one or two sentences
3. Body – the details, requests, or explanation
4. Closing line – what you want to happen next
5. Sign-off – a polite way to end before your name

That is the whole skeleton. The rest of this article fills in each part with real examples, so you can write with confidence instead of guessing.

Greetings That Sound Natural, Not Translated

Many B1 writers either go too formal or too casual, because they are translating a greeting from their own language instead of using an English one.

Weak: “Dear Sir, I hope this letter finds you in good health.” Strong: “Hi Mr. Johnson,”

Weak: “Hello dear colleague!” Strong: “Hi Maria,” or “Hello Maria,”

Here is a simple rule: use “Hi [Name],” for colleagues and people you email regularly, and “Dear [Name],” for first contact or more senior people. Both are correct English. Neither needs extra decoration.

If you do not know the person’s name, “Dear Hiring Manager,” or “To whom it may concern,” still works, but try to find a name first. It reads as more personal and more professional.

Writing an Opening Line Without Overexplaining

This is where many non-native speakers lose the reader before the email even begins. The instinct is to explain everything: who you are, why you are writing, your whole history with the company, before getting to the point.

Weak: “My name is Ahmed and I work in the finance department of our company, and I am writing to you today because I wanted to ask about something related to the invoice that was sent last week regarding the office supplies order.”

Strong: “I’m reaching out about the invoice we received last week for the office supplies order.”

The strong version gets to the point in one sentence. The reader instantly knows why they received this email. Save the details for the body.

A good opening line usually does one of these things:

• States the reason for writing: “I’m writing to ask about…”
• References a previous contact: “Thank you for your message on Tuesday.”
• States the request directly: “Could you send me the updated figures by Friday?”

One sentence. One clear purpose. That is the goal.

Five Grammar Mistakes Non-Native Speakers Make (and Easy Fixes)

These five mistakes appear constantly in B1-level business emails. Fix them and your writing will instantly look more professional.

1. Wrong preposition after a verb Weak: “I am waiting your response.” Strong: “I am waiting for your response.”

2. Overusing “I would like to” for everything Weak: “I would like to inform you, I would like to ask you, I would like to request…” Strong: Vary it with “Could you…”, “I wanted to ask…”, “Please let me know…”

3. Confusing “make” and “do” Weak: “Can you make a research on this?” Strong: “Can you do some research on this?”

4. Translating formal phrases word for word Weak: “Please to find attached the document.” Strong: “Please find the document attached.”

5. Forgetting article words (a, an, the) Weak: “Please send invoice for last order.” Strong: “Please send the invoice for the last order.”

None of these mistakes make your email unreadable. But together, they add up, and they make the reader work harder than they should have to. Small fixes, big difference.

Finding the Right Tone: Formal Without Sounding Stiff

This is the part that worries most B1 writers the most. You want to sound professional, so you reach for the most formal words you know, and the result sounds stiff instead of polished.

Weak: “I am writing to inform you that, pursuant to our previous correspondence, I am required to request additional information.” Strong: “Following up on our last email, could you send a bit more information?”

The strong version is still professional. It is just direct. English business writing, especially in emails, favors clear and warm over formal and heavy.

A few quick guidelines:

• Use contractions where natural (“I’m”, “we’re”, “can’t”) in most workplace emails. They sound friendlier, not less professional.
• Avoid words like “henceforth,” “aforementioned,” or “kindly” unless your workplace is unusually formal. They read as outdated.
• Say “please” and “could you” instead of giving commands. “Send me the file” feels blunt. “Could you send me the file?” feels polite.

If you want more phrases that hit this balance between formal and natural, 50 Email Phrases That Instantly Make You Sound More Professional has a full list you can start using today.

Ending Your Email With Confidence

Many B1 writers end an email the same way they started it: unsure, apologetic, or overly long. The closing line and sign-off deserve the same clarity as the opening.

Weak: “I am sorry to bother you with this and I hope it is not too much trouble, please let me know whenever you have time, no rush at all.” Strong: “Could you get back to me by Thursday? Thanks in advance.”

The strong version is clear about what you need and when. That clarity helps the reader, and it helps you get a faster response.

For the sign-off itself, match the formality of your greeting:

• “Best regards,” or “Kind regards,” for most business emails
• “Thanks,” or “Best,” for emails to close colleagues
• “Sincerely,” for very formal or first-contact emails

Avoid ending every email with “Thank you for your understanding,” unless you are genuinely asking someone to tolerate an inconvenience. Used everywhere, it starts to sound like a habit rather than a real thank you.

Where to Practise These Skills Next

Structure gets you a professional-looking email. But structure alone will not make your writing sound natural, because natural English depends on the small expressions native speakers use without thinking: idioms, fixed phrases, and everyday word combinations.

That is the gap most B1 learners hit next. You can write a grammatically correct email and it will still sound slightly foreign, because it is missing the natural, everyday language that fills the gaps between the formal structure.

If you want to build that vocabulary a little at a time, the free Business English Booster daily idiom course sends you one idiom a day, with over 700 in total, so you can start sounding more natural in your emails and conversations without setting aside extra study time. You can sign up for free at businessenglishbooster.com/free-daily-idiom.

Start with the structure you learned here. Then build your natural vocabulary one idiom at a time, and watch your emails start sounding less translated and more like you actually belong in that inbox.