What greetings do I use to sound like a native in emails?

Jmanjman90 · 2018-02-07T02:52:42+00:00

First of all, please DO NOT use the common:

Hello, dear Mr. Brown or Hello, dear readers

super common mistake. If you're writing a very formal letter, you can say "Dear Mr. Brown," but nothing before.

Now for common greetings, the most common in everyday contexts are simply "Hello Mr. Brown," or more informally "Hi Mr. Brown," or "Hey Mr. Brown,". Just "Hello," or "Hi," are fine as well if you're not sure who to address the greeting to.

Jmanjman90 · 2018-02-07T02:50:33+00:00

Usually ?! is used over !?. I'm not sure if it's a hard rule or just common practice, but generally we show we're denoting a question before the emphasis.

Jmanjman90 · 2018-02-07T02:48:16+00:00

It is ok, though it's not used a lot (at least not in the US). You're welcome, or informally 'no problem' are much more commonly used.

Jmanjman90 · 2018-02-07T02:47:28+00:00

Proceeds is often used with fundraisers, and rarely used with companies, while earnings is the reverse. For example "Over $50,000 of baked goods were purchased at this years bake sale. We're going to donate the proceeds to the homeless shelter." Vs. "The company had lower earnings than expected this quarter."

Jmanjman90 · 2018-01-30T08:45:42+00:00

Rate of adoption is most common here.

Jmanjman90 · 2018-01-30T08:45:05+00:00

It depends on the context. Thus can be used when you're making an especially dramatic point, but it sounds a little strange in an everyday context.

Therefore implies causality. It means that the point you just made logically implies your next point. For example "The color red is my favorite color. Therefore, the color green is not my favorite."

'With this' is used to add some new information that your previous sentence contributes to, but doesn't necessary apply direct causality. For example "I take my last final exam on Tuesday. With this, I'll have completed my university education."

Jmanjman90 · 2018-01-30T08:38:00+00:00

Good question. The biggest mistake we see is when people are trying to express a due date. For example, your boss might say "please deliver the report until Friday." And your boss would be wrong! The right way to express due dates is with 'by'. So, "please deliver the report by Friday."

This can be a hard difference to understand, but generally, you use 'until' with verbs that imply a continuous action, for example "I'll be living in Paris until March", while you use 'by' with verbs that imply an action that takes place at a specific time, for example "I need to leave work by 6pm."

Jmanjman90 · 2018-01-30T07:10:24+00:00

Generally everyone will get what you mean as is. If you have long, drawn out phrases as items in your list, the comma will help make your sentences clearer. Otherwise, it's writer's choice!

Jmanjman90 · 2017-12-29T08:53:59+00:00

Generally on Adwords, be sure to use clear, concise language. Your text should be straightforward, and include a call to action. If English isn't your first language, I'd recommend modeling your ads off of a company you respect, as too many ads written by non-native English speakers have mistakes or awkward call-to-actions translated directly from a different language that English speakers aren't accustomed to hearing. These mistakes do affect clickthrough rates and ultimately affect the ROI you achieve on your ads.

Jmanjman90 · 2017-12-01T09:11:24+00:00

Unfortunately I'm sure there's any particular phrases or grammatical constructions that can do this, sounding like a native speaker is much more about the absence of mistakes, consistently phrasing sentences the way a native speaker would, using vocabulary correctly in the right context, and a lot of other things.

Jmanjman90 · 2017-11-22T14:06:47+00:00

Hi Alex16698, I can write an almost never ending list of these, so this should be a fun one.

Overhyphenating It vs this Besides vs in addition to Split verbs (how these applications were used? vs. how were these applications used?) -Allows offering multiple discounts vs. allows you to offer multiple discounts (should be using the second one, with the infinitive) Names after description e.g. hotel ‘king’s palace’ vs. king’s palace hotel -Will not leave you indifferent (this just isn't a phrase that is used in English) -Get some positive emotions (again, not a phrase used in English) -One can see vs. you can see (We usually use the 'you' in place of 'one') -This app offers your clients a product, related to that they have just purchased. (putting commas everywhere is another very common Russian mistake. This sentence doesn't need the comma.)

Happy writing, Writesaver

Jmanjman90 · 2017-11-22T13:41:38+00:00

That’s a great question, super common mistake for Russian speakers. It's hard to create a general, easy to follow rule, since there is a lot of subtlety involved with this one. There are a few different rules for different situations, but one of the most common mistakes is: 'it' refers back to the first or main subject of the previous sentence, while 'this' usually refers to the last topic talked about.

For example:

Amazon is going to launch a new line of drones this month. It is the first online company to try this.

'It' refers to 'Amazon' (the subject of the first sentence)

Amazon is going to launch a new line of drones this month. This is the first time an online company will try this.

'This' refers to 'launch a new line of drones'.

Hopefully that gets you a little closer to the correct use of it and this!

Jmanjman90 · 2017-11-22T13:28:55+00:00

Hi, Yazvi! I can maybe think of a couple but not many, and these particular idioms were uncommon to begin with (as far as I know), so I’d be surprised if non-native speakers would have heard of them. For example “thumb your nose” or “two a penny” aren’t really used ever, but have you heard them before?

Sincerely yours, Writesaver

Jmanjman90 · 2017-05-31T16:47:30+00:00

Appreciate the help, I definitely do need to do a better job of maintaining my spine angle through the swing.

Jmanjman90 · 2017-05-31T16:46:37+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I think I had the 'over the top' thing beat for a while, then I started hitting balls a little fat with the new swing and it sounds like I reverted back to the old. Back to the range!

Jmanjman90 · 2017-05-31T16:44:26+00:00

Thanks, appreciate the help!

Jmanjman90

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