Reference · module 35
Writing it down
Everything this module explains, on one page.
A formal email
Write an email that gets a reply.
- The subject line decides whether the email is opened: Question about the March invoice, not Hello or Quick question.
- One request per email. Two questions in one message reliably get one answer, and it is usually the answer to the easier question.
- Close with what happens next: Could you confirm by Friday? A closing line with no action in it invites no reply.
The mistake you are about to make
Subject: Hello
Subject: Question about the March invoice
A greeting in the subject line is polite and useless. The subject is how the mail gets found and triaged: put a concrete noun in it.
A short essay
Structure an opinion in four paragraphs.
- Four paragraphs: the question, your position with reasons, the counter-argument, and the conclusion. That shape alone earns most of an exam mark.
- The introduction names the question and takes a side. There is no suspense in an essay, and hiding your position is not a technique.
- The conclusion returns to the question, not to the evidence. Repeating your reasons in different words is the most common weak ending.
The mistake you are about to make
There are many opinions on this question.
Remote work has changed hiring for good.
An opening observation feels like a warm-up and says nothing. An English essay names the question and takes a side in the first line.
Commas and the rest
Punctuate a sentence the way English does.
- English uses far fewer commas than most European languages. I think that he is right takes no comma at all before that.
- Two full sentences cannot be joined by a comma: I was tired, I went home is an error. Use a full stop, a semicolon, or add so.
- The semicolon joins two sentences that belong together: It was late; nobody wanted to leave. A full stop would also work and would feel colder.
The mistake you are about to make
I was tired, I went home.
I was tired, so I went home.
Two complete sentences cannot be joined by a comma alone. Use a full stop, a semicolon, or add a joining word: so, and, but.
Checking your own text
Find your own mistakes before somebody else does.
- Three checks catch most B2 mistakes: the third-person s, the articles, and the prepositions after verbs. Each takes one pass through the text.
- Then read it aloud. A sentence you cannot say in one breath is a sentence to split, and your ear finds those faster than your eye.
- And cut. In order to becomes to. Due to the fact that becomes because. A shorter text is almost always the better one.
The mistake you are about to make
due to the fact that
because
The long phrase looks more considered and adds nothing. Due to the fact that is because; in order to is to. Shorter is almost always better.