BASIC Grammar for Business E-mail Correspondence

No Slang or Abbreviations

Write “thank you”, not “thanks”.

No Exclamation Points

This is what writing to your friends is for!!! 🙂

Dear / Hello / Good Afternoon / Good Morning

Do not write “Hey” for ANY business correspondence.  If you must, use “Hi”  sparingly and only when writing to a co-worker or collaborator to whom you interact with on a regular basis.  Do not use “hi” when writing to a client.

Do Not Use Apostrophes

Spell out the words; “do not, will not, they are”, etc.

Do Not End A Sentence With A Preposition

This is a giant pain in the ass, but it really does distinguish whether or not you graduated the third grade.

Use Proper Basic Grammar

Use “may” not “can”, use “he or she”, not “their”.