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Vocabulary | Glossaries

Basic Parts of an Email

Message and Address
Jennifer Gunner, M.Ed. Education
By , Senior Writer

UPDATED JUNE 30, 2022

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Email is one of the most popular ways to communicate in

the 21st century. But do you know the different parts of an
email message? What about the parts of an email address?
Keep reading to learn about the basic parts of the
messages and addresses you use every day.

Elements of an Email Message

When you think of an email message, you might think of the
person you’re sending it to and what you’re going to say.
However, an effective email has many more elements than
these few. Double check these parts before sending your
next email.

1. Subject Line

What is the email about? A good subject line summarizes

the email and makes it sound important enough for the
reader to open. Subject lines like “Hello” or “Meeting” are
vague and make it difficult to know what the email will be
about.

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2. Sender

The email address of the person who sent the message

appears here. Most email services display the person’s
name before their email address to make it easier to identify
them. When you press “reply,” your email will only go to this
person.

3. Recipient

If you are receiving the message, your email address

probably won’t appear here. Instead, you might see wording
like “to me.” Message recipients might also include email
addresses in these sections:

Carbon Copy (CC) – people who receive the email for

their own information, but who are not expected to reply.
When you press “reply all,” all of these addresses
receive your response.

Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) – people who receive the

email but are not listed as recipients. Senders use the
BCC section if they don’t want recipients to know who
else has received the email. They do not receive “reply
all” responses.

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4. Salutation

After the subject line, your email salutation, or greeting, is

the next part that the recipient will see. It should match the
tone you’re trying to set in the rest of your email. Don’t skip
this part unless you are emailing back and forth quickly with
someone in a virtual conversation.

5. Email Body

The email body contains the message of the email. Effective

emails keep their email bodies short and add more
extensive information to the attachments. For formal emails,
such as messages to an employer or emails to your teacher,
it’s best to avoid common email abbreviations.

6. Closing

If an email message is an electronic letter, it’s polite to end it

with a closing. The closing you choose should match the
tone of the rest of the email. Formal closings include
“Sincerely” and “Thank you,” while more friendly messages
can use “Talk to you soon!” or “See you later!”

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7. Signature

Friendly letters might sign off with the sender’s name. But

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many business email accounts have signature sections that
include the sender’s position, company and even company
logo. These extended signatures are helpful when reaching
out to clients or employees from other companies.

8. Attachments

An email might include an attachment that provides more

information. The attachment could be a document for
review, a picture to share or any other file type. Most email
accounts have limits on the size of attachments, so the
sender might add the file to the email body itself rather than
attaching it.

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Parts of an Email Address

Believe it or not, your email address provides a lot of
information about you. It can reveal your name, interests,
online savvy, and professionalism. Check your email
address against these parts and see if it’s time to change
your online persona to a new one.

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1. Username

The username is the first part of an email address. Back in

the early days of the Internet, people chose fun usernames
like “musicfan156” or “blueeyes563” that described their
hobbies or personalities. But now that email is so prominent
in the professional world, usernames tend to include the
person’s real name or initials. For example, Javier Martinez
is more likely to be taken seriously as “jmartinez” than as
“heavymetallover42628.”

2. @ Symbol

The @ symbol, which means “at,” separates the username

from the rest of the email address. It means that the
username belongs to the domain on the other side of the @
symbol. A server receiving the email uses the @ symbol to
determine into which mail server it should sort the incoming
message.

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3. Mail Server

The name of the person’s mail server is on the right side of

the @ symbol. It indicates the organization that hosts the
server where their emails go. Many companies create their
own domain names for their employees to use, while other
domains are available for personal use (for example: Gmail,
Yahoo, Outlook).
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4. Top-Level Domain

The mail server and top-level domain (TLD) combine to

make a user’s domain name. The top-level domain tells
users what type of organization they are emailing. There are
six common top-level domains:

.com – company

.edu – educational institution

.gov – government institution

.org – organization

.net – network

.mil – military

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Writing Effective Emails That Get

Results
Now that you know the basic parts of an email message
and address, it’s time to work on what you want to say.
Emails vary based on their context, just like friendly letters
and business letters, but there are a few ways to make sure
your email communicates your point effectively. Read five
tips for writing effective emails to get the results you want
from your electronic message. Or, if needed, learn how to
write specific types of emails, such as out-of-office
messages.

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