- Items
- 1
- Time
- About 7 minutes
- Length
- About 100 to 150 words
- Tone
- Polite and clear
What the task looks like
The prompt gives you a role, a reader and three things to do, for example: explain a problem, describe what happened, and ask for a solution. Each of those three points must appear in your email. A short email that covers all three beats a long one that misses one.
A template you can use every time
- 01Greeting: "Dear Professor Lee," or "Hi Sam,". Match the reader.
- 02Opening line: say why you are writing.
- 03One short paragraph per point in the prompt, in the same order.
- 04Closing line: thank them or say what happens next.
- 05Sign-off: "Best regards," and a name.
You could not attend a required workshop for your course. Write to your professor. Explain why you missed it, describe what you have done to catch up, and ask how you can make up the work.
Dear Professor Lee, I am writing about the research workshop on Tuesday, which I was unable to attend. Unfortunately, I had a high fever that day and my doctor advised me to stay home. Since then, I have read the workshop slides on the course page and watched the recording of the first session. However, I know the hands-on exercises cannot be replaced by reading alone. Would it be possible to join the Thursday group, or is there another task I could complete instead? Thank you for your understanding. Best regards, Maria
All three points appear in order, each with one supporting detail. The tone is polite without being stiff.
Polite phrases worth learning
| To | Write |
|---|---|
| Open | I am writing to ask about… / I am writing regarding… |
| Explain | Unfortunately, … / The reason is that… |
| Request | Would it be possible to…? / Could you let me know…? |
| Suggest | One option might be to… / I would be happy to… |
| Close | Thank you for your help. / I look forward to hearing from you. |
Common mistakes
- Missing one of the three points. Tick them off as you write.
- Too informal for a professor: "Hey, I missed class, what do I do?"
- Long introductions that eat the time.
- No paragraph breaks, which hides the structure from the reader.
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