Fixing the Top 10 Email Errors
Some errors appear again and again in business email, and they immediately mark the writer as non-native or careless. The good news is that the same ten errors account for most of the problems. Fix these, and your email professionalism jumps a level. This lesson walks through each one with the rule and the correction.
1. Uncountable nouns made plural
Several common business nouns are uncountable in English. They have no plural form and do not take a or an.
- feedback, information, advice, knowledge, progress, research, equipment
Incorrect: Thank you for your feedbacks. I need some more informations.
Correct: Thank you for your feedback. I need some more information.
If you must count them, use a piece of: Can I give you a piece of advice?
2. Modal verbs with to
Modal verbs (must, can, should, will, may, could, would) are followed by the base verb without to.
- Incorrect: We must to review the contract.
- Correct: We must review the contract.
The only exception is ought to, which always keeps to.
3. By versus until for deadlines
This pair confuses many learners.
- By = no later than a deadline. Please send it by Friday. (It can arrive any time before Friday.)
- Until = up to a point in time, then it stops. The offer is valid until Friday. (It stops being valid on Friday.)
For deadlines, use by. Please finish by 5 p.m. is correct; Please finish until 5 p.m. is wrong.
4. Here is attached
The phrase here is attached is a learner construction. The natural professional phrases are:
- Please find attached the report.
- I've attached the report.
- Attached is the report.
Never combine them: Here is attached the report below is redundant and non-native.
5. Do the needful
Do the needful is common in Indian English business writing but is not standard in American or British English. International readers may not understand it. Replace it with:
- Please take the necessary steps.
- Please confirm your availability.
- Please review and proceed.
6. Actually meaning currently
Actually in English means in reality or in fact, not currently or at the moment. This is a classic false friend for speakers of many European languages.
- Incorrect: We are actually working on the feature. (intended: currently)
- Correct: We are currently working on the feature. or We are working on the feature at the moment.
7. Discuss about
The verb discuss never takes about.
- Incorrect: We need to discuss about the budget.
- Correct: We need to discuss the budget.
The noun discussion does take about: We had a discussion about the budget.
8. Kindly instead of please
Kindly sounds old-fashioned and overly formal in modern email. Use please.
- Over-formal: Kindly find attached the document.
- Natural: Please find attached the document.
9. Revert meaning reply
In some varieties of business English, revert is used to mean reply. In standard English, revert means return to a previous state. Use reply or get back to me.
- Non-standard: Please revert by Friday.
- Standard: Please reply by Friday. or Please get back to me by Friday.
10. Subject-verb agreement with data, team, staff
These collective nouns take a singular verb in standard business English.
- Correct: The data shows a clear trend.
- Correct: The team is working on it.
In British English, plural verbs are sometimes accepted (the team are), but in American business writing, prefer the singular.
Practice
Correct the errors in this email:
Hi Mr. John, Thank you for your informations. We must to discuss about the contract. Kindly revert by Friday. Here is attached the feedbacks from the team.
A corrected version:
Hi John, Thank you for the information. We must discuss the contract. Please reply by Friday. I've attached the feedback from the team.
Fixing these ten errors will instantly make your email read as native and professional. In the next lesson, you will learn to write concise meeting recaps that keep teams aligned.