Write an email in Spanish like a Native

So you need to write a letter or email in Spanish? The good thing about letters and emails is you have time to think about what you are going to say.  The bad thing is sometimes the language is very particular.

If you think about letter and email correspondence in English you see vocab not used in everyday speech – words like sincerely, best wishes, or to whom it may concern. Spanish has it’s own versions of these and other expressions used in written correspondence, some similar to English and some not. Find below the most common terminology used for letters and emails in Spanish, along with a final summary and example emails at the end.

Levels of Formality in Spanish

Keep in mind differing levels of formality, because it affects the appropriateness of which greetings and sign-offs to use — usually we don’t want to tell our boss ‘kisses’, or our significant other ‘best regards’. In addition, some of the phrases include possessive adjectives tu or su which translate to ‘your’ in English or the indirect objects te or le which mean ‘to you’. These are interchangeable depending on how you choose to address someone. When addressing someone informally (tú), use  tu and te.  When addressing someone formally (usted) use the adjective su or le.

For subscribers review:
Spanish possessive adjectives in course lesson 5
Spanish indirect object pronouns in course lesson 16
How to write an email in Spanish in course lesson 30

We’ve divided the email terminology into 3 levels of formality defined below:

To end a letter in Spanish, there are several different sign-off options. Some are used only to significant others, so be sure to take note.

Saludos cordiales
= Best regards

Saludos cordiales literally means cordial greetings, but probably more akin to the English version of ‘best regards’ or ‘warm regards’.

Atentamente
= Sincerely

Atentamente could mean ‘attentively’ in English, which exists, though is less common.  Since atentamente is quite commonly used in Spanish, we’d say it’s more comparable to ‘sincerely’.

Cordialmente
= Cordially

The same as in English

Sinceramente
= Sincerely

The same as in English

Para cualquier cosa estoy a su disposición
= I am at your disposal for anything you need

A common formal sign-off which can be in the tú form, but for formal cases use the Usted form (su).

Agradeciéndole de antemano su cooperación
= Thank you in advance for your cooperation

This is a very formal way to say thank you (agradeciéndole).  The formal ‘le‘ is the indirect pronoun for usted.  And antemano literally means ‘before-hand’.

Gracias
= Thanks

This is a standard way to end a letter or email.  But you can always add more, like gracias for tu/su tiempo (thanks for your time) or gracias for tu/su ayuda (thanks for your help)

Muchas Gracias
= Many thanks

Extra gracias 😉

Un saludo
= Cheers

Very commonly used since it’s a nice mix between being not too formal and not too casual.

Espero tus noticias
= Looking forward to hear from you

Even though this literally means ‘I am waiting for your news’, it’s not necessarily  that you expect a response.

Espero tu respuesta pronto
= Hope to hear from you soon

Again this may feel a little demanding when you read literally – ‘I am waiting/hoping for your quick response’ – but again it’s a more causal way of saying that you hope to hear from someone soon.

Avísame
= Let me know

This one is very common and useful.  Don’t try to literally translate ‘let me know’ into something like ‘dejame saber’, since that doesn’t work.  You could say something like ‘hazmelo saber‘ (which we address later) but avísame is easier and more common.  Avisar can mean to warn or to notify on it’s own.

Nos vemos pronto
= See you soon

Very commonly used in both letters and speaking.  This is one of those cases where a direct translation can be confusing, like ‘we see us soon’, which is strange. In Spanish this is a specific construct using reciprocal or reflexive forms to signify ‘each other’, which we don’t use the same way in English for this expression.

¡Ya hablaremos!
= Talk soon!

This is another one with a very simple meaning but an awkward literal translation.  We’ve seen before that the word ya can take on many different meanings.  Here we are using it to indicate something that is going to happen soon. Yo can also say hablamos pronto, but ya hablaremos gives you a chance to show off your Spanish skills 😉

Mantenme informado
= Keep me posted

The Spanish don’t use this one as much as we might use it in English, but it’s useful. Manter is reflexive and means ‘to keep’ or ‘to support’.

Que tengas un buen día/finde/ una buena noche
= Have a good day / weekend / night

This common English expression is more and more common in Spain, but make sure to use the subjunctive (tengas) so you sound more natural.

Pásalo bien
= / Have fun 

You cannot directly translate ‘have fun’ in Spanish as tener divertido. This is a very common mistake made by English speakers. Instead use pásalo bien, which means ‘to pass it well’.

Cuidate
= Take care of yourself

Cuidate means take care of yourself, using a combination of the verb cuidar (to look after or care) and the direct object te (you).  But don’t mistake this for cuidado, another common Spanish phrase from the verb cuidar. Cuidado means ‘watch out’ or ‘be careful’.

Un beso
= xoxo

In Spanish they talk about besos, or kisses, a lot, but it’s translated more as ‘xoxo’ in English.  It’s more common to talk about platonic kisses in Spanish, though only use it for people you are close with.

Un abrazo (fuerte)
= hug (big)

Funny enough this is a very common expression even though the Spanish don’t actually do a lot of hugging – mainly because they typically do the 2 kisses when they see each other. But they definitely use it in their sign-offs. This you can use with people you are close with. Include the fuerte for an extra big hug 😉

Con cariño
= With love

Con cariño means ‘with caring’ in Spanish, and most closely translated to the common English refrain ‘with love’.  Like in English, the Spanish version doesn’t necessarily mean its for someone for whom you have romantic feelings.

Te quiero / te amo
= I love you

Te quiero means literally ‘I want you’  while te amo means ‘I love you’.  But they would both translate to ‘I love you’ in English, so don’t use it unless you mean it.

Now that you have your greeting and sign-off picked out, there are probably some phrases that you need for the content of your Spanish email.  Things like, ‘keep me posted’, or ‘please find attached’ which are standard email lingo in English. Check out the most common phrases we’ve included here.  And if you need something else, ask us in the comments!

adjunto
= Please find attached

If you’re going to attach something to your email, use adjunto, but pay attention to the prepositions here.  There are a few options.  You can say:
le/te adjunto … (I attached for you (formal/informal)
en adjunto … (as an attachment … pongo en adjunto)

Hazme saber si tienes alguna pregunta
= Let me know if you have any questions

Again, don’t be tempted to use dejar for ‘let me know’.  In Spanish we use hacer,  and in this case in the imperative.  For formal context use hágame + tiene.

Quedo a su disposición para cualquier aclaración
= I remain at your disposal for any clarification

You can use this in more formal situations to say you’re available for any questions.

Espero que todo vaya bien
= Hope you are well

This means in Spanish, ‘I hope everything goes/is going well’, using the vaya – the subjunctive form of ir.

Puedes contactarme en el (numero)
= I can be reached at (phone number)

You may want to leave your number, just take note of the prepositions.  To contact someone at … you use en el + the number. You can can also leave mi número de contacto …, just don’t forget the de.

Fue un placer conocerte
= It was a pleasure meeting you

You can use the indirect object te following conocer for less formal letters, or le when speaking more formally in usted.

Según nuestra conversación
= As per our conversation

Según is typically translated to mean ‘according to’, so the expression in Spanish is ‘according to our conversation’.

Me haré cargo de ello
= I’ll take care of it

Cargar in Spanish means to load or carry, and estar a cargar is to be in charge.  So we use this verb when we speak of taking care of or being in charge of something.  In addition ello or ella is a common way to reference ‘it’.

Le agradezco por dedicar su tiempo
= Thank you for taking the time

Here again we use agradezco with the direct object le. To be less formal use te, and tu instead of su. In addition, don’t use the Spanish verb for take (tomar) as it’s more appropriate to talk about the time they’ve dedicated (dedicar)

Download a PDF Summary of
How to Write an Email in Spanish Like a Native

Now it’s time to see it all in action.  Spend some time with the example emails in Spanish below – one formal, one informal.  The terms you’ve seen here are shown in bold.

Formal Email in Spanish – Example 1

Informal Email in Spanish – Example 2

Do you use other Spanish greetings or sign-offs in your emails?

Or do you have a question about how you should say something in your email in Spanish? Ask us in the comments!

¡Que tengas un buen dia!

Hayley y Maider