Common English Mistakes in Business Emails by Arabic Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Arabic speakers from United Arab Emirates when writing a Business Email in English.

Mistake Example #1

Misuse of articles ('I have car' instead of 'I have a car')

Subject: Request for Meeting Dear Mr. Ahmed, I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to discuss aproposal fora new marketing strategy. We have prepareda draft and would like to present it to you. Could we schedule ameetingnext week to go over detailsnext week? Please let me know your availabileitimesy. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Text corrected by:
Vince, United States

"This was very good! Just a few small changes were needed to make the text more consistent."

Subject: Request for Meeting Dear Mr. Ahmed, I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to discuss a proposal for a new marketing strategy. We have prepared a draft and would like to present it to you. Could we schedule a meeting to go over details next week? Please let me know your availability. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Subject: Request for Meeting Dear Mr. Ahmed, I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to discuss proposal for new marketing strategy. We have prepared draft and would like to present it to you. Could we schedule meeting next week to go over details? Please let me know your available times. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Mistake Example #2

Overuse of passive voice

Subject: Meeting Request for Project Update Dear Mr. Ahmed,it isWe requested that the project update meeting isbe scheduled for next week. The progress of the project has been reviewed, and it iswe suggested that the team ishould be informed about the new deadlines. YWe appreciate your feedback is appreciated,andit is hoped that the meeting time is convenient for you. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"I changed some of the passive voice constructions to the active voice to improve readability."

Subject: Meeting Request for Project Update Dear Mr. Ahmed, We request that the project update meeting be scheduled for next week. The progress of the project has been reviewed, and we suggest that the team should be informed about the new deadlines. We appreciate your feedback and hope that the meeting time is convenient for you. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Subject: Meeting Request for Project Update Dear Mr. Ahmed, it is requested that the project update meeting is scheduled for next week. The progress of the project has been reviewed, and it is suggested that the team is informed about the new deadlines. Your feedback is appreciated, and it is hoped that the meeting time is convenient for you. Thank you for your attention to this matter.