The 11 parts of an email (explained and with examples)

A summary of the main parts of an e-mail, explaining their characteristics.

Email has become a fundamental tool in our days thanks to the fact that it allows us to send messages quickly and instantly.

Electronic messaging platforms allow us not only to send a written text to whoever we address it to, but also offer the option of attaching other documents and multimedia elements such as music, videos and presentations.

There are several the parts of an e-mailWe are going to review them below.

The characteristics of e-mail

Electronic mail, also called e-mail (electronic mail), is an Internet service that allows sending and receiving text messages and multimedia files between users from all over the world. The files that can be sent are of all kinds, such as music tracks, images, videos, documents... and it is thanks to this, together with its speed and ease of access at any time, that e-mails have become the main means of communication today.

To be able to send and receive e-mails it is necessary to have an account in one of the pages that offer this type of service, in addition to having access to Internet. The vast majority of these sites allow accounts to be set up free of charge. and the technology behind them is based on a protocol called SMTD, which is also used for other systems. The most used email sites today are Gmail, Yahoo! mail and Outlook.com.

While in real life users have physical email addresses, which can be our home or office address, in the virtual world we have to use a written and digital email address. This address cannot be repeated within the network, and usually consists of a set of words (user name) accompanied by an @ (at) symbol and then the name established by the network.

It is not necessary for the person to whom the message is sent to be connected at that moment in order to receive it, nor do we need to be connected all the time if we want to receive messages sent to us by others. As long as the message is sent to the correct e-mail address, the person we want it to reach will receive it, unless their own account identifies the message as SPAM (junk mail) and files it in their junk mail folder.

Like the mail of all the life, the electronic one requires that a series of data has to be filled in so that it can be sent. In the same way that in a traditional letter we put the return address, the sender, an envelope with written text or photos, e-mails require that we put to whom we are sending it, what we want to say and whether or not we attach other elements. The length and formality of the body of the message will depend on the user and the context..

Main parts of e-mails

The main parts of the e-mail are the following:

Header

The header is a set of lines containing the main information for sending the message.. It is in this part where you can read the e-mail addresses of both the sender (sender) and the recipient (recipient), as well as the date and time it was sent. The header is located at the top of the mail window we are writing and consists of the following parts.

1. Sender

Normally, in the header the sender's part is in the form of a blank space comes in the form of a blank space presented with the word "From:".. This is the area where the e-mail address of the person sending the message is located.

2. Recipient

The recipient part is a blank space in the header that often begins with the word "From:" . often begins with the word "To:" and contains the e-mail address of the sender. and it contains the e-mail address to whom the message is addressed. This element is essential in an e-mail since, as in any letter, it is necessary to know to whom it is being sent.

In case the email address that has been written is not valid, is misspelled or does not exist most instant messaging services have a function that warns us that the message could not be sent due to a problem with the recipient.. In other cases, the message is sent but does not go anywhere.

3. CC or BCC

In the same "Recipient" section, at the end, you will find the abbreviations "CC" and "BCC". These two options are optional and are used to write down the other e-mail addresses to whom you want them to receive a copy of the e-mail to be sent.

The CC option means "with copy", showing all addresses to all recipients.The BCC option, which means "with hidden copy", involves sending the same message to several people as in CC, but with the particularity that all the people who receive the message will have access to the e-mails of the other people who have received the same text.

The BCC option, which means "with hidden copy", involves sending the same message to several people as in the case of CC, but with the particularity that the e-mail addresses of the people who have received the same e-mail are not shown..

4. Date

Most electronic messaging services have a function that shows at what time and on what day the message was sent.

5. Confirmation of receipt

Some services have a function that allows you to know if the message sent has been received by the by the person to whom it was addressed.

6. Reply and forward buttons

In the header there may be a "Reply" button, which saves us having to retype the message. saves us from having to type again the e-mail address of the person who sent us a message to send him/her the reply, while the "Forward" button sends the same message again to the same address or to other addresses in case we have added new e-mail addresses.

7. Subject

The "Subject" is where the writer of the e-mail has to put a title or subject that is related to the body of the messageor that briefly explains the reason for sending the message. This sentence will allow the person who receives it to know what the e-mail is about before opening it.

Message editing window

After the header we have the part in which we will write the body of the message in addition to attach files or to sign if we wish to do so.

8. Message body

The body is the written part of the message and can be as long as you wish. This is where we will write all the reasons why we are writing and what we want to tell the receiver of the message.

9. Editing toolbar

Most of the electronic messaging services have an editing toolbar enabled, which makes the section for writing the body of the message similar to that of a word processor. The section for writing the body of the message has functionalities similar to those of a conventional word processor.. Thanks to this bar we can change the font size, color, font, underline, make bold, organize the text in bullets...

10. Attachments

Optionally, the message can be accompanied by attachments, i.e. multimedia elements or other documents in a different format, such as PDF or Word.such as PDF or Word. These files will have to be downloaded by the recipient in order to be opened and can be of any type: photos, videos, documents, folders, presentations, music tracks, spreadsheets, etc...

Although you can send more than one in the same e-mail, you will have to take into account how much space they occupy and, if they exceed the capacity allowed by the e-mail, they will have to be shared in other messages.

There is a button for attaching documents at the end of the message editing window, and if we click on it, a small window will appear where we can search for the desired file from our PC. Another option is to drag what we want to attach and put it in the body of the message, where it will be automatically uploaded.

11. Signature

Finally, at the bottom of the email we have the signature, an optional function that can be pre-programmed.. This signature can include our name, e-mail address, the name of the organization we work for, as well as a personalized signature with phrases and emoticons.

It is recommended to use this space to put the same data that a business card would carry, especially putting the name, contact telephone number, position and company you work for in case it is a professional e-mail.

Essential aspects in the body of the message

The part of our e-mail that conveys the most information is, without a doubt, the body of the message. It is necessary to take into account a series of aspects to take care of when writing an e-mail, especially if the message we are going to send is for someone important and requires a more formal register.

1. Greeting

The greeting is the first part of the message and it is essential that it is present if it is a formal one.It is the first thing our addressee is going to read. The expression we use to start the text of the message will depend a lot on who we are addressing.

Some formal expressions that we can use are:

• Distinguished Sirs and Madams
• Dear President
• Dear Mr./Mrs.
• Dear Sir/Madam

Less formal expressions are:

• Hello everyone!
• Hello, NAME
• Greetings,
• Good morning/afternoon/evening

2. Content of the message

After greeting, we begin to explain the idea or the long reason for which we are addressing our addressee. Here we indicate everything we want to convey to the person to whom we are sending the message. As we have already mentioned, its length is very variable and depends on the context and what you want to communicate.

In the case of a business e-mail, it is advisable to keep the message brief and concise, getting to the point as quickly as possible but maintaining a formal and cordial register, especially if we are talking to our boss.

Regardless of the register we use, it is essential to take care of grammar, punctuation, spelling and other aspects of appropriateness. We may be addressing a friend or someone with whom we have a lot of confidence, but to ensure that we make ourselves understood correctly, it is very important to take care of these aspects.

3. Farewell

Finally, in the final part of the body of the message we can say goodbye, especially if it is a formal message or if it is addressed to someone important. It is very important that the message ends with a good closing, appropriate for the specific register and context.. This farewell should be given after having talked about all the points that were wanted.

Some expressions of farewell are:

• In advance, thank you.
• Best regards
• Cordially,
• Sincerely,
• Thank you for your time.
• See you soon.
• See you soon.
• Best wishes.

It is recommended that farewells include the name of the sender, although this may not be necessary depending on the situation. For example, if it is a constant exchange of mails, in which the previous message is answered and a conversation has been established in the form of a thread, it will not be necessary to put the name in all the messages.

Bibliographical references:

• Your Dictionary (n. d.) Basic Parts of an Email Message and Address. Your Dictionary. Retrieved from: https://reference.yourdictionary.com/resources/basic-parts-of-an-email-message-and-address.html
• Syntax. (n.d.) Anatomy of an email message. At Syntaxis.com. Retrieved from https://www.syntaxis.com/anatomy-of-an-email-message