Lesson 28 of 41 in the Test Ninjas TOEFL course: Write an Email, Writing. In Write an Email, you write to one named reader, and that reader decides how your English should sound.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Lesson at a glance
Detail
This lesson
Module
Write an Email (Writing)
English focus
Email register (greetings, sign-offs, requests and word choice for formal and informal readers); stating the purpose in the first lines; closing with a next step
Task skill
Turning the recipient line, the situation and the three requirement verbs into a three-part plan before writing
In Write an Email, you write to one named reader, and that reader decides how your English should sound.
This lesson teaches the email language that fits the relationship: the greeting, the requests and the sign-off that suit a manager or a friend, a first sentence that says why you are writing, and an ending that tells the reader exactly what you need.
Then it shows you how to read the prompt in three passes and turn its three requirement verbs into a one-minute plan, so no requirement slips away.
By the end of the lesson, you can
Choose the greeting, requests, word level and sign-off that fit the reader, reading the recipient line and the situation together (someone you haven’t met or who decides → usually formal; someone you work with every week → neutral; a friend → informal), and avoid both mistakes: too casual for a manager, too stiff for a friend.
Open with one or two sentences that give the context and your purpose (I am writing about / to ask / because …), ask politely with indirect questions (I would like to know how …), and close with a clear last request when you still need something (the action, plus a time if the situation gives or suggests one), then a courtesy line and a matching sign-off.
Read a Write an Email prompt in three passes (reader, situation, requirement verbs), write a one-line plan for each requirement, and give each requirement its own paragraph that does what its verb asks.
What’s inside
Around the 3 teaching cycles below, the lesson opens with a quick check and closes with applied practice, a Check and a debrief. How every course lesson is built.
Teaching cycles in lesson 28
Cycle
Focus
What it teaches
Drills
Cycle 1
English
Register: matching the reader
7
Cycle 2
English
Openings, purpose lines and closings
7
Cycle 3
Task skill
Three requirements, one plan
8
Word bank
The 10 words and phrases this lesson teaches. They come from the real course questions you practice on in the Apply step, so you meet each one again in context.
clarification noun
an explanation that makes something easier to understand
I emailed the lab coordinator to ask for clarification about the new safety rules.
Goes with:
ask for clarification
Word family:
clarify (verb); clear (adjective); clarity (noun)
cause confusion verb + noun collocation
to make people unsure about what is happening or what to do
Two rooms with the same number on different floors may cause confusion for visitors.