THE 6 PARTS OF AN EMAIL AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS - TECHNOLOGY - 2025

The main parts of an email are the subject, recipient, body, attachments, CC or Bcc, and signature. Electronic mail (e-mail) is an electronic messaging exchange service that is offered by various network providers such as Google and Microsoft.

Emails are widely used around the world, it does not matter that communication has been made faster with chats. The cause is simple, e-mails are not only used to send written messages, it is a platform that allows you to send attachments of all kinds to any part of the world.

Email is also important because it is required to use many services on other websites such as social networks and banking institutions. It is the first step for a user to be able to use multiple services offered on the network.

For a long time it has been shown that the human being is a social being. All people need interaction to stay psychologically healthy, it is for this reason that communications technology has been one of the most advanced.

In fact, humans have evolved in order to maintain our social interaction. From the caverns, an isolated man did not survive.

That is why from there we have gone from paintings, to speech, to written language, to the post office, the telegraph, the telephone and many years later, now with the internet; to emails.

In which parts is an email divided?

Recipient / sender address

It is the primary element of an email. This is the email of the person who will receive the message, without a recipient the email will not get anywhere.

When the message arrives, the recipient of the recipient's address will be the recipient of the sender's address, since the email address of the person who sent the message will be displayed.

Affair

To prevent email from being filtered as spam, you need to put a subject. This is the title of the email and is the first thing the recipient will see before opening the email.

Therefore, you should have concise and important information that gives a preamble about what the received mail is about.

CC or BCC

It is the copy that is sent to other recipients. Here are noted the other email addresses to whom the copy of the sent email will arrive.

The CC option –with copy- will show all addresses to all recipients, however, the BCC option –with blind copy- will send the copy with more privacy.

Using Bcc, the addresses of each recipient are hidden. That is, the recipients will not see who else the mail was sent to.

Body

It is the essence of email. Here everything that you want to communicate is expressed, the body is the message itself.

It has no word limits and can be extended as long as you want, but it is recommended that it does not contain so much information and if it does, it is better to attach everything in one file.

Attached files

They are the files that are added to the message to be downloaded by the recipient. These can be many and of different types.

Photos, videos, documents, folders, presentations, spreadsheets, etc. can be attached to an e-mail. All these files must be stored on the issuer's computer.

Firm

This is at the bottom of the email. It is a pre-programmed and automatic signature from that moment for all messages.

If it's a personal email address, custom signatures with phrases and emoticons can be added.

However, if it is a work email address, the signature should carry information about the person sending the message.

It is recommended to use the format that would be used in a business card. Put the name, contact telephone number, the company you work for and your position, etc.

How is an email organized?

An email must be well written in order to be understood by the recipient. There are certain aspects that must be taken care of when writing an email and things to take into consideration before sending it.

Greeting

It should be the first part of the message and is essential if it is a formal email. It establishes who the message is directed to and begins what you want to express in a cordial way.

The way a greeting is written depends on who is the recipient and who is the sender. If it is a work email, the tone of the greeting should be more formal, but if it is a personal email, the sender can take certain liberties with it.

Message content

This is the most important part of the mail. Here everything you want to achieve with that message is communicated.

A work email should be characterized by being short and concise. Get to the point quickly but always remembering to maintain a cordial tone, without being extremely friendly as the content is overloaded with details and the true purpose is lost.

You must have a proper use of punctuation marks, the reason behind this is because by not using them you can lose the meaning of the message or misinterpret it, written language is not as easy to decipher as oral.

Knowing what someone is referring to is easier if you hear the tone of voice used and the way it is expressed; this cannot be noted in writing.

That is why the message should try to imitate oral conversation and explicitly reflect where you want to go using grammar signs and good spelling.

This message should state the goal, the benefit, and the requirements without digressing too much.

Farewell

This segment is the closing of the message. To fulfill the purpose of communicating all that is desired, a good closing is essential.

The closing should occur after all the points in the message have been established. There is no ideal goodbye for all emails, as it all depends on the nature of the message.

It is recommended that the goodbyes have the name of the sender, although this may vary depending on the situation. If it is a constant e-mail exchange, the name should be omitted after the first e-mail.

A good and understandable email is not based only on the content of the message, most of the time it is the wording and the way of expressing that content that is essential to fulfill the objective of said email.

References

1. Peter, I. The history of email. Extracted from nethistory.info.
2. South Columbus High. Basic parts of an email. Extracted from southcolumbushigh.com.
3. Leigh, J. Parts of Electronic Mail. Excerpted from techwalla.com.
4. Zimbra Email. Parts of an email message. Extracted from zimbra.com.
5. Su, T. 15 Tips for Writing Effective Email. Extracted from thinksimplenow.com.Mind Tools Editorial Team. Writing Effective Emails: Getting People to Read and Act on Your Messages. Retrieved from mindtools.com.Foresman, S. Parts of an Email Message. Extracted from teachervision.com.
6. Anatomy of an email message. Extracted from syntaxis.com.