Reference Desk
Home
English Grammar
Practical English Usage
Grammatical Terms
English Writing
English speaking
Vocabulary
Business English

Interactive Pages
English grammar exercises
English vocabulary exercises

Formats, grammar and spelling

Use only plain text in your email. Note that people use different email programs (Mulberry, Outlook) and platforms (Apple Macs, PCs, or Linux/Unix computers) to access their mail. Messages do not necessarily translate well between them if you are not using plain text. Remember that what you create in your compose window is not necessarily what the recipient sees - they may not have colour or font-style formatting in their email program, for example. If you must compose an email in RTF or HTML, provide a plain-text alternative.

Use correct grammar and spelling

Use correct grammar and spelling. Poorly-worded and misspelt messages are hard to read and potentially confusing. Just because email is a fast mode of communication does not mean that it should be slipshod.