Level 2 · Intermediate — Lesson 6 of 7
Professional Email and Messaging
Learning objectives
- Write emails with an appropriate level of formality for the situation
- Chase a pending response without sounding impatient or rude
- Deliver mildly bad news or a delay professionally
- Adjust tone between formal email and quick chat messages
Real-life scenario: You need to tell a client that a delivery will be a few days late. You want to be honest and professional, without sounding careless or overly apologetic. This lesson gives you templates for exactly this kind of message.
Key vocabulary
| Word / Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| To follow up | To send a reminder about something previously discussed |
| At your earliest convenience | As soon as reasonably possible |
| To flag something | To point out an issue or concern |
| Apologies for the delay | A professional way to acknowledge lateness |
| Just a gentle reminder | A soft way to nudge someone about a pending task |
| To keep you posted | To continue updating someone on progress |
| Please find attached | A standard phrase to introduce an email attachment |
| CC / loop in | To include another person on an email thread |
Sentence patterns
I hope this email finds you well.Common formal opener for external emails.
Just following up on…“Just following up on my email from last week.”
Apologies for the delay in…“Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.”
Could you let me know by…?“Could you let me know by Thursday?”
I wanted to flag that…“I wanted to flag that the timeline may shift slightly.”
Thanks so much, appreciate it!Casual closer for internal chat messages.
Sample email 1 — Following up on a pending response
Subject: Following up — Proposal feedback
Hi Kavita,Hope you’re doing well. Just following up on the proposal I sent over last Tuesday — wanted to check if you’ve had a chance to look it over.
No rush at all, but if you could share any feedback by Friday, that would really help us stay on track.
Thanks so much!
Arjun
Sample email 2 — Communicating a delay
Subject: Slight delay on the delivery timeline
Hi Mr. Rao,Apologies for the delay — I wanted to flag that the shipment will now arrive on the 14th instead of the 11th, due to a stock issue on our end.
I know timing matters here, so I’ll keep you posted with updates as we get closer to the date. Please let me know if this causes any issues on your side.
Thank you for your patience.
Sneha
Dialogue — Formal email vs. casual chat message
Formal email“I hope this email finds you well. Could you let me know by end of day if the numbers look correct?”
Casual chat“Hey! Quick one — do the numbers look right to you? Let me know when you get a sec 🙂”
Listening/reading practice: Imagine reading this message: “Hi team, just a gentle reminder that the report is due tomorrow EOD. Please loop me in if you’re stuck on anything.”
Comprehension check:
Comprehension check:
- What is the deadline mentioned?
- What should the reader do if they face a problem?
- Is this a formal email or a quick team chat message? How can you tell?
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Better version |
|---|---|
| “Please do the needful” | “Please take care of this” / “Please proceed with this” |
| “Revert back to me ASAP” | “Please get back to me at your earliest convenience” |
| “I am waiting for your reply since long” | “I’ve been waiting for a response for a while now” |
| “Kindly find the attachment herewith” | “Please find the attachment attached” |
| “Sorry to disturb you” | “Sorry to bother you” / just state the request directly |
| Same tone for boss and close colleague | Adjust formality: formal for boss/clients, casual for peers |
Confidence tip: A short, clear email is more professional than a long, overly formal one. If your message answers “what, when, and what I need from you” in three short paragraphs, it’s doing its job.
Self-assessment checklist
Daily challenge
Rewrite one email or message you’ve sent recently, replacing any stiff phrase (“revert back,” “do the needful”) with a more natural alternative from this lesson.
Quick quiz
1. Instead of “please do the needful,” write:
2. “At your earliest convenience” means:
3. A follow-up email should sound:
4. “To flag something” means:
5. Which tone fits a message to your manager?
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Next: L2.7 Participating in group discussions →
Lesson summary
You now have templates for following up, delivering a delay, and switching tone between formal emails and casual chats — plus a clear list of stiff phrases to retire for good. Your written communication will read as confident and natural, not translated.