Writing Emails in Spanish Like a Native
Write natural emails in Spanish, from casual notes to friends to formal messages at work, plus how to dictate your email address like a native.
Key phrases
Hola Marisa, ¿qué tal andas por allí?
Hi Marisa, how are things over there?
Un abrazo fuerte, ¡nos vemos pronto!
A big hug, see you soon!
Estimados señores:
Dear Sir or Madam,
¿Podéis confirmarme la hora de la reunión de mañana?
Can you all confirm tomorrow's meeting time?
¿Podría usted indicarme el estado de mi solicitud?
Could you tell me the status of my application?
Quería consultar los horarios del curso de italiano.
I wanted to ask about the Italian course's schedule.
Me gustaría reservar una habitación doble para el próximo fin de semana.
I'd like to book a double room for next weekend.
Rectifiquen el cargo cuanto antes, por favor.
Please correct the charge as soon as possible.
Quedo a la espera de su respuesta.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Un saludo,
Best regards,
Es Rubén: ere, u, be, e con tilde, ene, arroba, gmail, punto, com.
It's Rubén: r, u, b, e-with-an-accent, n, at, gmail, dot com.
Te adjunto el archivo con los cambios que comentamos.
I'm attaching the file with the changes we discussed.
¿Correo o Email?
An email in Spanish is a correo (short for correo electrónico) or simply email, said with the stress on -mail. Both are used constantly and interchangeably. One trap: there’s no verb “to email” in Spanish, so you can’t say “email it to me” — you always enviar or mandar something por correo. Before you start typing, a few inbox essentials: De/Para/Asunto (from/to/subject), Adjuntar/Adjunto (attach/attachment), Responder/Reenviar (reply/forward), and Cc/Cco (cc/bcc — Cco is short for copia oculta, hidden copy).
Informal Emails: To Friends and Family
With people you already know, relax completely. Open with Hola, Buenas or Querido/a, drop the opening ¿ or ¡ if you feel like it, and write however you’d actually talk. Always use tú. Sign off with un beso, un abrazo, or for extra warmth, un fuerte abrazo — wishing hugs and kisses in writing is completely normal in Spanish, even between male friends who’d never say it out loud.
Formal Emails: Work and Beyond
Everything formal comes down to one choice: tú/vosotros or usted/ustedes? In Spain, colleagues at the same company overwhelmingly use tú and vosotros, even for serious matters — switching to ustedes with your own team feels cold and oddly distant. Writing to a client, a stranger, or almost anyone in Latin America, usted/ustedes is the safer bet. Open with Estimado/a plus surname, or dodge the guesswork with Buenos días/Buenas tardes. If you truly don’t know who’ll read it, Estimados señores: or A quien corresponda both work. Close with Un saludo, Saludos cordiales, or the stiffer Atentamente.
Getting What You Need: Asking, Booking, Complaining
Spanish softens a request through tense, not extra padding. Swap quiero for the imperfect quería, or reach for the conditional — querría, me gustaría, ¿podría…? — to ask for information or make a booking without sounding pushy. Oddly, the imperative is also fair game: pair it with por favor and it reads as firm rather than rude, exactly what you want in a complaint. Wrap up formal requests with Quedo a la espera de su respuesta (I look forward to hearing from you) to signal you expect a reply.
Pro Tip: Dictating Your Email Address
Sooner or later someone will ask for your correo out loud, so learn to spell it the Spanish way — letter names, arroba for @, and punto for the dot. Practise it once and you’ll never freeze up giving your address to customer service again.
This lesson only opens the inbox — for the full toolkit on formal letters, register, and every email situation, Sound Right, Write Right is the book that rounds out the series once you’ve got the social basics down.