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Match the sentence parts. - Match up (wordwall.net)

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Match up - Drag and drop each keyword next to its definition.

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Reflexivpronomen - reflexive pronouns erklärt | LernenLeicht Englisch

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Vokabeln schreiben – Blue Line 8. Klasse R | (lernwelt-englisch.de)

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Vokabeln schreiben - Blue Line 8. Klasse R

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Writing a good email to a friend you haven't spoken to in a long time should be easy. Because you haven't been in contact in a long time, you should have a lot of interesting things to say or questions to ask them. So why do many people struggle when writing one and end up writing a boring one, a very short one or not writing one at all?

The main reason is because they don't plan before they start writing the email. Doing two things at once (thinking about what you are going to write at the same time as trying to write it) is never a good thing. So you need to sit down (or walk the dog) and just think of things to ask and tell them.

But to plan well, there are two things you need to know before doing it:

It is important that you know what type of things you should write about. There are some things that you should include in this type of email (e.g. a funny event, ask them what they are doing etc...) and some things you shouldn't (e.g. ask them to do a big favor, tell them how perfect your life is etc...).

To learn more about what type of things you should and shouldn't write in an email to a friend, read my article on 'how to write emails to friends'.

When you know what types of things to write about, you need to know how to structure this (know where to write these things in the email). Having a good structure not only makes the email easier to read for your friend, but it also makes it a lot easier and quicker to write for you.

So let's now look at the structure you should use when writing an email to a friend you haven't had contact with in a long time.

Structure of the email

You begin the email by asking them short questions about how they are, what they've been doing etc... Between asking them questions, apologise for not contacting them in a long time.

In this part tell them about experiences and situations that have been happening to you or plans that you have in the future. I would also recommend that you ask them questions connected to what you've written about yourself. So, if you have told them something about your job, ask them a question about theirs (e.g. 'Are you still working at .....?').

In this part write about and ask them questions about shared interests (e.g. football, music etc...) or about people you both know.

If you are going to invite them to something (e.g. a birthday party etc...) or you want to meet them, do it here at the end. If you are going to ask them to do something for you (and only things which they can do very quickly!), you should write it in this part.

Finish the email by saying that your are looking forward to hearing from them. At the very end, pass on a greeting from somebody else (if you have one) if that person has asked you to (e.g. 'Simon says hi' or 'Sarah gives her love').

So now that you know what structure you should use, see it used in the below example email. Reading this will show you not only the structure you should use, but also give you examples of types of things to write about and English vocabulary and phrases you can use in your own emails.

After the example, you'll find a quiz/test. This has been designed to both explain how and what to write in this type of email and to make sure that you remember what to do.

To see exercises and examples for over 20 other types of emails and advice on writing them, go to our email exercise menu.

Exercise & Example:

In the following email, Bill is writing to a friend of his (John) who he hasn't had any contact with in a long time.

From the context, try to guess what the meaning and the use in the email of the words/phrases in bold are. Then do the quiz at the end to check if you are right.

Hi John,

How are you? It's been ages since we last spoke. I hope everything is going well.

Sorry, I haven't been in contact recently. I've been meaning to write to you for the last couple of months, but I just haven't got round to doing it. Sorry for my laziness.

What have you been up to lately? I remember you telling me that you were thinking about moving house. Did you do it or are you still living in the same place?

I don't know if you've heard, but since the last time we spoke I left my job. I'm now working at Omega in Manchester. It's a similar job to what I had before, but I have more responsibility (and more hours unfortunately) and the pay is better (which is nice). Are you still working at Tyson or have you changed too?

I've also bought a new car (a Honda Civic). You know how I don't like to spend money, but I had to buy a new car after the car I had (the blue Ford escort) kept breaking down. The last time it happened, I was in the middle of the nowhere. I had to wait for 2 hours until the break down service arrived!

Apart from that, nothing much has changed. I'm still living in the same house in Sheffield and still going trekking in the mountains every other weekend.

A funny thing happened to me and Julia when we were in trekking in Wales about 2 months ago. We were walking up Snowden when it suddenly started to snow. I thought that it wouldn't last for long, so we continued going up. But it did and it got a lot worse. So we decided to turn back and return to the car.

Unfortunately, when we eventually got back to the car, we couldn't move it because of the snow. After an hour of trying to dig it out, it still wouldn't move. At that point, we had to decide whether we'd stay in the car the night or walk back to the nearest village, which was 10 miles away. We decided to walk to the village.

It took us over three hours to walk to the village. As you can imagine, Julia wasn't happy. She blamed me for everything and refused to talk to me for most of the journey. An interesting weekend to say the least.

In summer (so fortunately no snow!) we're planning to go to the Pyrenees in Spain for a week. You've been there, haven't you? Have you got any suggestions of places which we should visit when we are over there?

Are you still going to watch Leeds United? They are not having a good season this year. But that's nothing new!

Have you heard anything from Jeff? I was thinking the other day about when we all went to London for the weekend. Do you remember how drunk he was on the Saturday? You had to take him back to the hotel in a taxi and put him to bed. Always trouble, but such a nice guy.

We really should meet up some time. Go out for a few drinks at the pub? Let me know if you fancy it.

Anyway, I have to get back to doing some work.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Take care,

Bill

P.S. Julia gives her love.

Click to see more email/letter exercises & examples

Quiz:

Below is a definition/description of each of the words/phrases in bold from the above text. Now choose the word/phrase from the question's selection box which you believe answers each question. Only use one word/phrase once. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, this icon will appear next to the answer. Click on it to find extra information about the word/phrase (e.g. when, where and how to use etc...).

Practice

Now that you understand the topics to write about, vocabulary to use and structure; practise them by writing your own email to a friend you haven't spoken to in long time.

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How to write an email to a friend you haven't contacted in a long time exercise

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Learn how to write good emails in English to friends you haven't been in contact with in a long time in this online exercise (with an example). In this exercise you'll learn what types of things to include in one and how to structure what you write.

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Listen and write – Blue Line 8. Klasse Unit 2 | (lernwelt-englisch.de)

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Listen and write – Blue Line 8. Klasse Unit 2 |

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0abd5e86-4805-4546-8128-ee4ac73b4249 (strato.com)

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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1) We arrived ___ the airport at 10 o'clock. a) on b) with c) of d) or e) at f) in 2) Flight 1606 departs ____ gate D1 at 4:40 p.m. a) by b) from c) at d) on e) in f) to 3) Did you have any drinks ___ the flight? a) on b) to c) at d) in e) of f) by 4) Britain left the USA ____ 1776. a) on b) to c) at d) by e) of f) in 5) Alaska is famous ___ long, cold winters. a) with b) for c) at d) on e) in f) by 6) Huskies can pull things that are much heavier than ____. a) theirself b) theirselves c) theirselfes d) themselves e) themselfes f) themself 7) Grizzly bears have a good sense ____ smell. a) of b) off c) at d) on e) with f) go 8) I am looking forward ____ my cousin. a) by visit b) by visited c) to visiting d) to visit e) by visiting f) to visited 9) My dad ________ use a computer. a) know what to b) knowing how to c) knowing what to d) knows how to e) know how to f) knows what to 10) Come with me, ____ you like. a) and b) but c) or d) what e) as f) if 11) The girl couldn't do anything _____ it. a) by b) about c) over d) in e) on f) at 12) What time ____ the plane land? a) does b) do c) doing d) done e) do it f) dong 13) You must keep food ____ bears a) against from b) away from c) upside from d) away for e) upside for f) against for 14) ____ an earthquake it's best to be outside. a) When b) What c) Where d) Why e) During f) While 15) Stop _____ and think positive. a) complaining b) complain c) complained d) to complain e) complains f) to complaining 16) I hope your suitcase ______ lost. a) didn't got lost b) don't got lost c) didn't get lost d) did not get lost e) doesn't got lost f) is doing 17) Over 1200 _____ work in this car factory. a) employing b) imployees c) emploiees d) employes e) employers f) employees 18) The Golden Gate Bridge is a ____. a) landmark b) landscape c) landlord d) landing e) landform f) landfill 19) The ____ city in Alaska is Anchorage. a) this b) largest of c) largest d) larger of e) more large f) large of 20) I am sure Tom will enjoy ____. a) herself b) herselve c) herselv d) himselve e) himself f) himselves

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1) We arrived ___ the airport at 10 o'clock. 2) Flight 1606 departs ____ gate D1 at 4:40 p.m. 3) Did you have any drinks ___ the flight?

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Witchcraft Escape-Room: Blue Line 4 Unit 2