The prefix re is used most times in place of the word regarding or referring to. This is how it has been used in letters and is currently used the same way in emails. Something we all know is that letters were here before emails so normally, email formats are different from the letter writing format so people sometimes get confused re this issue. Now you get it.
Key Takeaways
- The word re is put right before the aim or subject of the letter
- “Re” is a Latin word that means “in the matter of”
- If the word “Re” is used in an email then it means, the email is a reply of the “Subject Line”
- The company’s email address should have the name of the company in it because it is also a form of advertisement
How re Got Involved With The Business World
Letters were always on papers so the term re was used to replace the word regarding or referring to. Nothing new yet, look at this now.
The word re was put right at the beginning of most if not every business letter, in this context, it is put right before the aim or subject of the letter. This means that re is used to tell you that everything written in that letter is regarding the said topic above.
Don’t get confused, re here are two letters that mean something, it is not an abbreviation of any word. Although it isn’t English, it is a Latin word that means “in the matter of”.
Now we have come to the era of electronic mails, this is the new way we write letters, it is only easier to send and better than the old ways. Let’s get down to business, re in the electronic mail has been given a new agenda, it is no longer used in the same contexts as before.
Re in both worlds are just similar, here it is used in the email subject line when replying to a subject. This could be of help to you because it is mostly used in a situation where several emails have been sent back and forth, but when it is used and a specific subject is being highlighted after that then the confusion would be less as both parties will now understand each other without stress.
Business Emails
The business email has now been able to grow and become one of the several methods that are among the major ways that people in offices and firms talk and share business findings with the CEO, customers, shareholders, distributors, and different partners.
When creating an email for your business, there is a lot of information and other major things that would have to be put in place especially the major subject matter like the business email address and the business email format.
What Are Business Email Addresses?
The definition of the words in this content is very simple as it is just the email utilized particularly for the company or sometimes for personal use.
The company’s email address should have the name of the company in it because it is also a form of advertisement when the email address is being noticed by many people, they get to know the brand name and that way it helps to create awareness for everyone.
What Is The Standard Format Followed For A Good Business Email?
When sending a business email, it is obvious that you would want a positive response that makes you handle that particular business. Sometimes when a firm is proposing a particular contract, there is a lot of thinking that goes into making that email look in order.
This is a mandatory process because the structure of an email passes a good or bad impression to the receiver, when the arrangement of your letter is bad, it doesn’t give the reader a good impression of you and what you are proposing.
A good email would move in this particular order,
The name of whoever is sending the email
The aim of the email
A pre-header
Salutation
The email body
Sender’s signature.
The business email should be structured perfectly in a way that the sentences at the top of the main email body should say exactly why the email was being sent.
While the last parts of this email should be a total summary of the whole process and what would be the next step.
| Email Format | What It Entails |
| The name of the sender | Sometimes, some firms make the mistake of sending in their business emails without including a name at the beginning, some people say that the email should tell the reader who the sender is. This is wrong, an employee or the company’s name should be written |
| Aim of email | This part of the letter is very clear, just make sure you write something readable and mentioning to the reader |
| Pre-header | A pre-header in this context is a short sentence that tells you what the email is going to be about |
| Salutation | Writing a business email means you have to be very straightforward and appropriate. The greeting should not send any bad impressions |
| The email body | This is the major part of this letter, no time for the long talk here, just hit the nail directly on the head and give points too |
| Sender’s signature | The signature is essential so that the reader would be able to get some details about who he or she is dealing with. Also, a sign-off message would be nice. |
How Do You Use re To Replace Regarding?
Well, at a time when people used paper to deliver their letters and communicate, they came up with a way to just shorten or replace the word regarding or reference to, they would always put it at the top of the letter before the subject line. With the way people use the word rein their letters, you must have noticed that it is fixed perfectly to replace the word regarding as it is a Latin word that means “in the matter of”.
How Does re Cause Confusions In Emails?
The word re is majorly put in front of a reply email, this isn’t done manually by you but the whole email technology takes care of that. Sometimes, people who are used to it add re by themselves even after it has been added automatically by your device, this could get your reader confused.
Sometimes when you add it to a new message, not a reply message this time around, it might get the person confused because he or she doesn’t have any prior message which you might be referring to.
This is what differentiates the email re from that of the letter writing, for letter writing, it is mainly used for the word regarding but rein emails are majorly used in the context as a reply.
Conclusion
A business email is an important part of getting some major achievements and contracts so when it isn’t passed on properly, you might lose a chance at getting what you must have come for with that particular email. The word re is something that also causes people to make unconscious mistakes that end up making them lose. Now, you must have learned how to use re and what it entails. This should change a lot of things now.
References:
1. https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13290/what-does-re-in-a-business-letter-mean/13304
2. https://thewritecorner.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/what-does-re-stand-for/
3. https://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2022/02/re-what-does-re-mean.html
Last Updated on November 13, 2022 by Magalie D.
Magalie D. is a Diploma holder in Public Administration & Management from McGill University of Canada. She shares management tips here in MGTBlog when she has nothing to do and gets some free time after working in a multinational company at Toronto.
