Summary
MENU How to Reply to a Received Email How to Request or Deny or Decline by Email How to Deal with Attachment Exercises

1. How to Reply to a Received Email

1. Reply to an email as quickly after receipt as possible.
   
   
   If it will need some time to reply to the email, then send an ACK (ACKnowledgment) notifying a sender that you received it first.
   Example 1.1:

   I have received your email regarding your visit to our research lab.

   
   

   I will get back to you in a day or two.

   
   

   Your patience is appreciated.

2. Do not forget to begin with an appropriate salutation.

3. OK to address a sender more casually (with the first name) after a few correspondences.

4. Express a gratitude to the sender's action of contacting you.
   Example 1.2:
   Reply to the email in Example 4.3 of Lecture Notes on Communication by Emails (Part 1 of 3)

   From: Kazuo Sugihara <sghrkz@hawaii.edu> Subject: Re: ICS311 in the Next Semester To: Justin Song <jsong@hawaii.edu> Hello, Justin. > I am a junior student majoring Microbiology. > I would like to take your ICS3111 (Algorithms) in the next semester > because I am interested in bioinformatics and want to study > computational aspects of DNA analysis. Thank you for your interest in my course ICS311. > I have already taken all prerequites of ICS311 though, > I need your approval to register for ICS311 because it is > restricted to ICS majors. > Please let me take ICS311 in the next semester. OK, I will create an approval code for you in a registration database and inform it to you as soon as it becomes ready. Cheers, Kazuo

5. Cite the received message in the text of a reply by quoting it
   because both parties of communication tend to get lost while exchanging emails back and forth.
   There are two common styles of citing the received email in a reply to it.
   1. Quote a segment of the received email followed by a reply to the segment
      (See the above Example 1.2).
      Remark 1.1:
      In my opinion, this style is preferred because it makes a reply similar to conversation
      and it clarifies the context of each sentence in a reply and what the sentence is talking about.

   2. Append the entire received email at the end of a reply.
      Example 1.3:

      From: Kazuo Sugihara <sghrkz@hawaii.edu> Subject: Re: ICS311 in the Next Semester To: Justin Song <jsong@hawaii.edu> Hello, Justin. Thank you for your interest in my course ICS311. I will create an approval code for you in a registration database and inform it to you as soon as it becomes ready. Cheers, Kazuo On May 2, 2015, at 10:45 AM, Justin Song <jsong@hawaii.edu> wrote: > Hello, Dr. Sugihara. > > I am a junior student majoring Microbiology. > I would like to take your ICS311 (Algorithms) in the next semester > because I am interested in bioinformatics and want to study > computational aspects of DNA analysis. > > I have already taken all prerequites of ICS311 though, > I need your approval to register for ICS311 because it is > restricted to ICS majors. > Please let me take ICS311 in the next semester. > Thank you for your consideration on this matter. > > Best regards, > > Gary

6. Keep a subject line with the single prefix "Re:". However, when a topic of communication has been changed while exchanging messages or you intend to change a topic, do not hesitate to rewrite a subject appropriately.

7. Be careful to choose "Reply" and "Reply-All" when a received email was sent to a group of people.

8. Try to adapt the same style of email writing as the sender did. Reflecting the sender's style makes the sender feel comfortable to read your email.

9. If you find something confusing in a received email, ask the sender a question for clarification.

10. Review a draft, delete unnecessary content from it, proofread it, and rvise it.

A. How to Request

1. [Casual]   Can you ... ?
   [Polite]     I am wondering if you could ...

2. [Casual]   Please send me ...
   [Polite]     I would appreciate it if you would send me ...

3. [Casual]   I need this within one hour.
   [Polite]     Would it be possible to have this within one hour?

From: Kazuo Sugihara <sghrkz@ee.uvw.edu> Subject: Request of the Latest Firmware for ST-1250 To: Mark Anderson <anderson@xyz.com> Hello, Mr. Mark Anderson. I would like to request the latest version of a firmware of your product ST-1250. The product (Firmware Version 1.2.1) purchased 3 years ago has shown a problem after I upgraded its firmware to the stable release 1.3. If there is a newer version of the firmware for ST-1250, I would like to update the firmware. I would appreciate it if you could send it to me or inform me its URL where I can download the latest version from. Thank you for your consideration on my request. I look forward to hearing from you. Best regards, Kazuo Sugihara, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Electrical Engineering University of Vander Wildt http://www.ee.uvw.edu/~sugihara/

B. How to Deny a Request

1. [Casual]   Sorry, I can't do it.
   [Polite]     It is regretful to inform you that I will be unable to do it.

2. [Casual]   There will be a delay.
   [Polite]     I am afraid there will be a slight delay.

3. [Casual]   It's a bad idea.
   [Polite]     To be honest, I am not sure it would be a good idea.

From: Mark Anderson <anderson@xyz.com> Subject: Re: Request of the Latest Firmware for ST-1250 To: Kazuo Sugihara <sghrkz@ee.uvw.edu> Hello, Dr. Kazuo Sugihara. > I would like to request the latest version of > a firmware of your product ST-1250. Thank you for your inquiry on ST-1250. > The product (Firmware Version 1.2.1) purchased > 3 years ago has shown a problem after I upgraded > its firmware to the stable release 1.3. > If there is a newer version of the firmware for > ST-1250, I would appreciate it if you could > send it to me or inform me its URL where I can > download the latest version from. It is regretful to inform you that the stable release 1.3 is currently the latest version. Because there is no version newer than 1.3, we would like to proceed troubleshooting of your problem on the firmware version 1.3. Please let us know details of the problem. Thank you. Best regards, Mark Anderson Technical Suport XYZ Co., Ltd. http://www.xyz.com/

C. How to Decline an Invitation or Offer

1. [Casual]   Sorry, I cannot make it.
   [Polite]     It is my honor to be invited to the dinner though, I would not be able to join it.

2. [Casual]   I cannot take your offer.
   [Polite]     I appreciate your kindest offer though, I would not be able to accept it.

3. [Casual]   I cannot accept your proposal.
   [Polite]     Your proposal looks very attractive though, I am afraid I have to decline it.

From: Kazuo Sugihara <sghrkz@ee.uvw.edu> Subject: Re: Job Offer To: Scott Jackson <jackson@abc.com> Hello, Mr. Scott Jackson. > I am pleased to inform you that our company > has decided to offer you a computer engineer position. > If you will accept the job offer, then I would like > to start discussions on a contract's terms such as > salary, fringe benefits, etc. Thank you for the job offer. However, I would not be able to accept the offer. Thank you again for your consideration on my application. Best regards, Scott Jackson Human Resources ABC, Inc. http://www.xyz.com/

Text Message vs Hyperlink vs Attachment

Tips on Attachment

1. When you send a document as an attachment, there are two common file types.
   • PDF (Portable Document Format)
   • RTF (Rich Text Format)
   PDF is preferred over RTF.
   However, if an attached file needs to be edited by both parties of communication, then choose RTF.
   Remark 3.1:
   It is recommended to avoid attaching Microsoft Word or Excel or PowerPoint files to an email for security reasons unless there is a consensus on using them with the recipient.

2. Limit the total size of attachment files
   because a recipient's email inbox may be constrained by a storage quota on a mail server.

3. If you need to send the same file multiple times (due to revisions), give appropriately distinguishable names to each revision so that a recipient can easily manage multiple versions of the file.

1. XYZ Co., Ltd.の製品ST-1250がいつ入手可能かについて、 Customer Serviceに問い合わせるメールをcs@xyz.comへ書きなさい。

2. Snapdragon 810というCPUのBenchmark Testの結果を次の人物にリクエストするメールを書きなさい。

   Dr. John Smith
   R&D Division
   ABC, Inc.
   jsmith@abc.com

3. Aquaというソフトウェアのソースコードを次の人物にリクエストするメールを書きなさい。

   Dr. Nancy Korth
   R&D Division
   ABC, Inc.
   korth@abc.com

4. International Conference on Data Analyticsという国際会議のConference Chairとして、 上記のDr. Nancy KorthをKeynote Speakerに招待するメールを書きなさい。

5. Assume that you have received an email written in Ex.1 above.
   Write a reply for informing a sender that the product ST-1250 will be in stock within 10 days.

6. Write a reply that rejects a request of the email written in Ex.2 as if you were Dr. John Smith,
   assuming that the request is denied because benchmark test resukts are confidential.

7. Write a reply that rejects a request of the email written in Ex.3 as if you were Dr. Nancy Korth,
   assuming that the request is rejected because source code of Aqua is an intellectual property of ABC, Inc.

8. Write a reply that declines an invitation to a keynote speaker of International Conference on Data Analytics offered by the email written in Ex.4 as if you were Dr. Nancy Korth who is the recipient of the email,
   assuming that the request is declined because you have a prior engagement conflicting the conference schedule.