How to write an email in Spanish: Greetings, sign offs, examples

Sending formal business emails in Spanish doesn’t have to be an intimidating experience.

We get it, sending emails can often feel like a monotonous and drawn-out part of the workday. However, it doesn’t have to be as long as you learn some useful phrases for starting, writing, and ending your formal emails. With the right tools, writing an email in Spanish will feel just like any other part of your day!

Learning how to send a formal email in Spanish will make your everyday business communications so much easier. This will help you not only keep your job but stand out among your peers, perhaps leading to earning a well-deserved raise or closing bigger deals. Doing business in Spanish is an invaluable skill that can help you communicate with over 400 million people in more than 20 countries, and knowing how to send business emails in Spanish is an essential part of this!

We know how daunting it can feel to send your first few formal business emails in Spanish, which is why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide. We’ll walk you through every single step of the way, from crafting the perfect subject line to closing out with the best sign-off and signature. Plus, we’ll also include various examples of business emails in Spanish for different occasions, so you can fully visualize yourself writing the best business email from start to finish.

And while writing an email in Spanish is very similar to writing a letter in Spanish, there are several differences to keep an eye on. As you can probably imagine, writing a formal email is generally less formal than writing a letter, so you’ll have to format them a little bit differently.

Ready to get started on those important business emails you need to write? Let’s jump right into everything you need to know to write the perfect Spanish business email!

How to write an email in Spanish

Writing an email in Spanish is generally much more formal than in English. If you’re a native English speaker, then you’re probably used to getting one or two-line emails from your colleagues every now and then. You may also get jokes, some memes, and perhaps see some Canadian slang in professional emails, depending on the closeness of the relationships.

Spanish speakers use email in a much more formal way. If you’ve ever been to one of the Spanish-speaking countries, then you probably already know that the instant messaging app WhatsApp is extremely popular. Almost all informal communications take place over WhatsApp, and even some formal business negotiations happen over the instant messaging service, too.

That means that you should keep your emails extremely formal. All informal communication, including Spanish slang, can go on WhatsApp, when appropriate. However, don’t be surprised when your Spanish-speaking colleagues schedule important meetings over WhatsApp or discuss formal issues over text!

With that said, business emails are still incredibly important, especially when you’re establishing new connections in the Spanish-speaking world. Although some things are better communicated in a formal letter in Spanish, you’ll find that sending a business email in Spanish isn’t just more convenient but also more appropriate in many scenarios. Let’s get you started with the very basics of writing and sending one.

Key email writing vocabulary to keep in mind

If you’ve never sent a formal Spanish email in your life, or even if you have, here are some important vocabulary words that you should be familiar with. Using them in a formal email is a great way to impress your colleagues and clients.

Formatting a formal or business email

If you’re comfortable with writing formal emails in English, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that Spanish emails are formatted very similarly. Here are the main parts of a formal business email that you should consider:

• Línea de asunto. This is the subject line, which includes the most important information in the email. In a sales email, the subject line might include an intriguing question or proposition to entice the reader to click on it.

• Saludo inicial. The initial greeting addresses the receiver by name if you know it. Otherwise, you can use “A quién corresponda,” which is the Spanish equivalent of “to whom it may concern.”

• Introducción/presentación. The introduction generally starts with a short sentence wishing the receiver is doing well and is followed by a brief sentence introducing the topic of the email.

• Cuerpo. The body of the email is where you can get into the details of your request or the information that you need to communicate. Remember to keep your paragraphs short, and avoid being wordy whenever possible!

• Saludo de despedida. To sign off, you’ll want to thank them for their time in a short sentence followed by a very brief farewell in a separate line.

• Firma. The signature is the very last part of a formal email. This includes all your contact information as well as your current role in your organization.

How to write a formal or business email

Now that you’re familiar with each part of the formal business email, we’ll take our time and work through each of them one by one. We’ll also provide you with a few examples of each, so you’ll be able to write your email right away if you’re in a rush!

The very first thing you need to know about writing a formal business email is that you should stick to using the formal usted instead of the informal tú. If you’ve already learned how to use tú vs. usted in Spanish, then you should have no problem using the formal Spanish pronoun to refer to the receiver of your email. Otherwise, make sure to brush up on this skill, as using usted and conjugating your verbs accordingly is a very important part of writing a formal email.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each part of an email.

Email subject lines in Spanish

The subject line in Spanish is called el asunto (ah-soon-toe). As in English, Spanish subject lines should be succinct and include the most important or essential part of the email. For example, an email containing an invoice from a vendor would include the invoice number in the subject line.

Additionally, you can add special notes in the subject line if you need to communicate something special or urgent to the receiver. For example, if something requires immediate attention, you can start your subject line with “URGENTE” (URGENT) followed by a semicolon and the rest of your subject line. Just be sure not to use this too often, as you don’t want to be the boy who cried wolf!

Another thing to keep in mind when writing email subject lines in Spanish is that we use sentence case for them instead of title case. That means you don’t need to worry about any special capitalization rules — just follow the normal rules you’d follow when writing in a regular sentence.

Here are some examples of common subject lines you might encounter in a business setting:

Email greetings in Spanish

The greeting in Spanish is very similar to greetings in English. If you know the person's name, then you have a few word options to use before their name. If you don’t know the name of the person, then you may simply address your letter “a quién corresponda,” which is the Spanish equivalent of “to whom it may concern”.

The one thing you should keep in mind when writing email greetings in Spanish is that we use a colon instead of a comma after the initial address. For example, in English, the email greeting would look like:

• Dear James,

Whereas in Spanish, it would look like:

• Querido Jaime:

While many people will still use a comma in Spanish instead of a colon, using a colon is the correct way to do it according to the Real Academia Española.

Here are a few examples of Spanish greetings:

How to start an email in Spanish

Once you’ve done the initial greeting, you will want to follow up with a brief presentation if you haven’t interacted with this person before or if you don’t do it very often. A quick refresher of who you are and what your position is or what company you work for can be greatly appreciated when emailing people you don’t work with all that often.

After this introduction, you can summarize the topic of your email in a very brief sentence. Think of it as a launching pad for the body of your email. Keep in mind that these introductions tend to be abundantly formal, so they will sound a little weird outside of this context. Stick to only using them in formal email contexts. As you’ll see in the English translations, they even sound a bit unnatural in English!

How to end or sign off an email in Spanish formally

Once you’ve written your work of art of an email, you’re going to want an equally impressive way to close it out. The most common closing format is to include a line telling them that you’re grateful for their time followed by a line bidding them farewell. If you’re awaiting a response from them, then this might also be the time to let them know that you await their reply. Here are some options:

Email signatures in Spanish

Crafting an email signature in Spanish is remarkably similar to writing one in English. You’ll want to include much of the same information you’d include in an English signature, like:

• Full name

• Job title

• Company name

• Work phone

• Mobile phone (optional)

• Work address

• Email address

• Photo

Plus any other information that may be relevant in your field, such as your degrees or special certifications. You can also feel free to combine multiple points in one line. For example, here’s an example of what a Spanish email signature would look like:

Marco Monroy
Escritor de contenido | Berlitz
+52 100-2000-3000 | marco@berlitz.com
Calle Maximilian 202, CDMX 03300

Examples of formal or business emails in Spanish

Now that you’re familiar with common subject lines, greetings, sign-offs, and more, let’s take a look at a few complete examples of business emails in Spanish. We’ll cover a few different types of formal emails to help you visualize your needs, no matter what you need to write a formal email for.

Example of a formal thank you email

Estimada Licenciada Rodríguez:

Espero se encuentre bien. Le escribo para agradecerle genuinamente por tomar el tiempo de entrevistarme esta mañana.

De igual manera, me gustaría reiterar mi compromiso con el desarrollo de tecnología sustentable y el cuidado al medio ambiente. Por ende, me parece que este puesto en su compañía sería el lugar indicado para desarrollar mis habilidades y lograr mis metas.

Le agradezco amablemente de haber tomado el tiempo de hablar conmigo esta mañana. Para mí fue un placer tener la oportunidad de entrevistar con una empresa de vanguardia en el medio ambiente.

Muchas gracias por su atención.

Saludos cordiales,

Fernando Pérez Gómez

Example of a formal request email

Estimado Miguel:

Espero se encuentre bien. Nos conocimos ayer en la Conferencia Nacional de Agrónomos y me gustaría agendar una cita con usted para discutir cómo mi fertilizante podría ser beneficioso para su empresa.

Nuestros clientes han logrado mejorar sus cosechas por un 25% al utilizar nuestro fertilizante, lo que ayuda a reducir costos e incrementar ganancias. Además, nuestro fertilizante está hecho con ingredientes 100% naturales, así que no agrega partículas tóxicas a sus cultivos.

Por favor, indíqueme cuándo sería posible tener una breve conversación con usted, ya sea por llamada o en persona.

Quedo en espera a su amable respuesta.

Saludos cordiales,

Alejandra Almaguer Rosales

Example of a formal welcome or introduction email

Estimado Juan:

Espero se encuentre bien. Con este correo, me gustaría darle la bienvenida oficialmente a Berlitz.

En esta compañía, nos enfocamos en hacer sentir a cada miembro del equipo como una parte integral de nuestra familia. Lo más importante para nosotros que usted se sienta cómodo y cuente con todo lo que necesite para ofrecer el más alto servicio a nuestros clientes.

Por ende, quisiera poner a disposición mi correo electrónico y número de teléfono para que se comunique conmigo por cualquier razón. La puerta de mi oficina siempre estará abierta para discutir cualquier duda o manera en la que podamos mejorar nuestra atención hacia usted.

Sin más por el momento, quedo a su disposición.

¡Bienvenido a la familia Berlitz!

Maximilian Berlitz

Example of a formal written warning email

Estimado Jorge:

Espero se encuentre bien. Por medio de la presente, queremos indicarle que cuenta con una advertencia formal por retardo.

Usted llegó más de 15 minutos después de su hora de entrada en las siguientes fechas:

• 15 de mayo de 2022

• 23 de mayo de 2022

• 3 de junio de 2022

Con estos tres retardos, usted ahora cuenta con su primera advertencia formal por retardo. Le recordamos que tres advertencias formales por retardo podrían resultar en la terminación inmediata de su relación laboral con nosotros.

Le rogamos tomar las medidas necesarias para evitar que esto vuelva a suceder. Recuerde que contamos con el programa de empleado puntual del mes, donde el empleado que logre adherirse a su horario establecido con mayor puntualidad recibirá una tarjeta de regalo para su restaurante favorito.

Sin más por el momento, le agradezco por su atención.

Saludos,

Rodrigo Olivera Robles

Example of a formal sales email

Estimado cliente:

Por medio de la presente, nos complace informarle de nuestras nuevas ofertas primaverales en la tienda en línea de Planterra.

A partir de hoy y hasta el 31 de mayo, todos nuestros clientes podrán disfrutar de un descuento exclusivo del 20 % sobre el precio final de cualquier producto. Esto aplica para nuestros productos de temporada y nuestros productos cotidianos.

Si usted desea aprovechar este descuento, por favor inicie sesión como miembro de nuestra página web. De inmediato, usted podrá tener acceso a nuestros precios reducidos por esta gran promoción.

Sin más por el momento, le deseamos lo mejor en esta época primaveral.

Saludos cordiales,

El equipo de Planterra

Example of a referral email

Querida Marcela:

Me complace mucho saludarla. El motivo de este correo es para conectarla con mi cliente actual, don Federico, quien busca recibir servicios de relaciones públicas.

Recientemente, don Federico firmó un contrato con mi empresa para prestar servicios de marketing digital. Desde entonces, don Federico ha demostrado interés en contratar servicios de relaciones públicas. Por ende, no dudé en pensar en su empresa como una excelente opción para don Federico.

Me gustaría presentarlos para que puedan discutir acerca de oportunidades para trabajar juntos y lograr sus objetivos. Cualquier cosa, estoy disponible para agendar una cita o llamada.

Quedo al pendiente de cualquier duda o comentario.

Saludos cordiales,

Claudia Lizeth Gonzáles Castro

Example of a shipping confirmation email

Estimado cliente:

Esperamos que se encuentre bien. Nos complace indicarle que sus productos del pedido #70209933945 van en camino a usted.

Hemos enviado el producto a la dirección de envío proporcionada en el momento de la compra, por lo que ya no es posible hacer cambios a la dirección de entrega. Sin embargo, se puede poner en contacto con la compañía de envíos para cualquier aclaración o duda.

Su código de rastreo es AH-02033-405506-XBY. Puede utilizar este número de guía para rastrear su paquete directamente con la compañía fletera.

¡No podemos esperar por que disfrute de sus productos!

Saludos cordiales,

El equipo de Planterra

Unleash your business prowess with the best formal emails in Spanish

Now that you know the best practices for crafting the perfect business email in Spanish, you can set out to conquer new markets. From forging business relationships with new vendors to finding customers in new regions, there is no shortage of things you can accomplish with a good business email.

Remember - Spanish is one of the top additional languages you can learn to advance your career, and an important part of Canada's future economic growth. Taking the time now to hone your formal Spanish communication will no doubt set you up for success in the years to come.

Doing business in Spanish-speaking regions is very heavily tilted toward personal relationships. That means that you’ll likely have to develop a certain level of familiarity before going into business with a colleague, which often involves shifting the communications to a more informal means like WhatsApp. So, consider it a blessing if you’ve reached a point in your relationships where you’ve graduated out of sending formal emails!

To dive deeper into the Spanish language and master your skills, you can learn Spanish with our in-person classes or online Spanish lessons.