Email Sign-Offs: 30 English Closings Taiwan Pros Use (2026) | 英文email結尾

You’ve just spent twenty minutes writing the perfect email to a Hong Kong client. The subject is sharp, the request is clear, the tone is exactly right — and then you freeze on the last line. English email closing phrases are the part most Taiwan office workers learn last and worry about most, because the wrong sign-off can undo everything you just wrote. A “Best regards” sent to a coworker you eat lunch with sounds cold. A “Cheers!” sent to a German law firm sounds careless. The closing is a 2-second decision that quietly tells the reader who you are.

This guide is built for Taiwan professionals — cram school teachers, engineers at TSMC, freelancers chasing Singapore clients, and PMs juggling 50 messages a day. I’ve sorted 30 working closings into formal, friendly-professional, casual, action-driving, and thank-you categories, then listed six Chinglish closings that quietly hurt your credibility. Every entry has a Chinese annotation so you can match register at a glance.

Why English Email Closing Phrases Matter More Than You Think | 為什麼結尾語比你想的重要

A closing phrase carries three signals at once: how formal the relationship is, how warm you want to be, and whether you’re expecting a reply. Get any of the three wrong and the reader notices, even if they can’t tell you why. A 2023 Boomerang study of 350,000 real email threads found that messages closing with “Thanks in advance” had a 65.7% response rate — the highest of any sign-off tested — while messages with no closing at all dropped to around 46%. The closing is doing real work.

Taiwan learners pick up the formal greetings (“Dear Mr. Lin”) quickly because textbooks drill them. The closings get less attention, which is why so many Taiwanese professionals default to “Best regards” for every situation — even thank-you notes to their own assistant. Native speakers shift their sign-off three or four times across a single email thread, and matching that rhythm is what makes you sound fluent in the body, not just the greeting.

The 7 Formal Closings That Always Work | 7個正式英文結尾

These are your safe defaults for cold outreach, government correspondence, legal matters, and anyone you haven’t met in person. They are slightly stiff on purpose — formality is the point.

1. Yours sincerely — 敬上 — When you know the recipient’s name. The classic UK-style closing for formal letters.
2. Yours faithfully — 謹上 — When you opened with “Dear Sir/Madam” and don’t know the name. Pair with the opener or it looks odd.
3. Respectfully — 敬上 — For senior officials, regulators, judges. Heavier than “Sincerely.” Use sparingly.
4. Sincerely — 誠摯地 — The US business default. Slightly less formal than “Yours sincerely” but still safe.
5. With kind regards — 致以敬意 — A softer formal option. Works well in legal and academic settings.
6. Best regards — 此致 / 敬上 — The workhorse. Safe for almost every formal context, but boring if you over-use it.
7. Kind regards — 致上問候 — A touch warmer than “Best regards.” Common in UK and Singapore offices.

If you want one rule from this whole article: never end a formal email with a comma. Best regards, on its own line, then your name on the next line. The comma after the closing is non-negotiable in business correspondence — Cambridge Dictionary’s email style guide is explicit about this.

10 Professional but Friendlier Closings | 10個專業又不死板的結尾

This is the register most Taiwan office workers actually need 80% of the time — emails to colleagues at other companies, vendors, recurring contacts, and clients you’ve already met once or twice. Warm, but still professional.

8. Best — 順頌 — Friendly shorthand. Acceptable once you’ve exchanged 3+ messages.
9. All the best — 祝順利 — Slightly warmer than “Best.” Common in creative and tech industries.
10. Warm regards — 致上溫暖的問候 — For long-standing client relationships. Don’t use on first contact.
11. Best wishes — 祝順心 — Friendly, neutral, works for almost any age recipient.
12. Many thanks — 萬分感謝 — Closes when you’ve asked for something. UK-leaning.
13. Thanks again — 再次感謝 — When the person has already done you a favor in a previous thread.
14. With appreciation — 由衷感謝 — A touch more formal than “Many thanks.” Good for managers above you.
15. Thank you for your time — 感謝您撥冗 — When you’ve asked someone busy to read a long email.
16. Looking forward to your reply — 期待您的回覆 — Soft pressure, polite. Common in vendor and supplier emails.
17. Have a great week — 祝您有個美好的一週 — Day-of-week variants (“great weekend”, “great Friday”) feel personal without being too casual.

The truth is, “Best” alone has crept past “Best regards” as the most common professional closing among American knowledge workers under 40. If you’re emailing tech contacts in California or Austin, “Best” is now the safer choice — “Best regards” reads a little Gen X.

Casual Closings for Coworkers and Repeat Contacts | 同事熟人之間的輕鬆結尾

For people who already know you. Internal team emails, a designer you’ve worked with for two years, your direct teammates. Avoid these with anyone you’ve never met face-to-face or video-called.

18. Cheers — 祝好 — UK/Australian standard for friendly-but-not-intimate. Avoid in US contexts above middle-management.
19. Talk soon — 之後再聊 — When you’ll genuinely be in touch this week.
20. Take care — 保重 — Warm. Common when the person has had a rough week or is on vacation.
21. Catch you later — 之後聊 — Very casual. Same-team only.
22. Have a good one — 祝你今天順利 — American casual. Day-end friendly close to teammates.

Action-Driving Closings: When You Need a Reply | 想要對方回覆的結尾

These closings exist to get a reply. The Boomerang study I cited earlier ranked them: “Thanks in advance” pulled 65.7% replies; “Best” pulled 51.2%; “Regards” pulled 53.5%. If you need movement, frame the close as a small request.

23. Thanks in advance — 預先感謝 — Implies you expect cooperation. Soft pressure.
24. Awaiting your reply — 靜候您的回覆 — Slightly formal, common in B2B sales follow-ups.
25. Please let me know by [date] — 請於[日期]前回覆我 — Direct, time-bound. Use sparingly or it reads pushy.
26. Any thoughts? — 您怎麼看? — Friendly, invites discussion without demanding a yes/no.
27. Happy to chat further — 隨時可以再聊 — Leaves the door open. Sales-friendly without being aggressive.

One small habit that doubles reply rates: ask your one specific question on the line directly above the closing, not buried in paragraph two. Recipients scan from the bottom up when they’re busy.

Apology and Thank-You Closings | 道歉與感謝結尾

The tone here matters more than the exact phrase. Pick one and don’t double-stack — writing “Thanks so much! Many thanks again! I really appreciate it!” reads as nervous, not grateful.

28. Thank you for your patience — 感謝您的耐心 — For late replies or delays you caused.
29. With apologies for the delay — 為延遲致歉 — Acknowledges fault without grovelling.
30. Grateful for your help — 感謝您的協助 — Warmer than “Thanks.” Good for one-off favors.

That brings the running total to 30. Save this list, screenshot it, paste it into Notion — the goal is to stop reaching for “Best regards” every time. Pair these closings with the 35 business English collocations we covered earlier and your professional emails will read like a native speaker in under two months.

6 Closings to Never Use at Work | 6個職場禁用結尾

Most of these are direct translations from Chinese or holdovers from English-class textbooks that haven’t been updated since 2002. Each one quietly hurts your credibility with international colleagues.

1. Yours truly — Sounds like a love letter. Banned in modern business contexts.
2. Wish you have a nice day — Chinglish. Native version: Have a great day.
3. Looking forward to hearing from you soon! — The exclamation mark is the problem. Drop it.
4. I am waiting for your reply — Sounds impatient and slightly accusatory. Use Awaiting your reply.
5. Sent from my iPhone on a deliberate business email — Reads as careless. Strip it for anything important.
6. Love, or Hugs, — Inappropriate even between teammates. Skip.

The most common mistake I see in Chinglish business emails from Taiwan professionals is the over-friendly closing — packing three “thank you” variants and an exclamation mark into the final line. Pick one. Mean it. Move on.

The Closing-to-Subject Match Rule

Here’s the framework most guides skip: your closing should match your subject line’s register, not the body’s. Subject lines set expectations. A subject like “Q3 Vendor Renewal — Sign-off Required” wants a formal closing (“Best regards,” or “Sincerely”). A subject like “Quick question on the deck” wants a friendly one (“Thanks!” or “Best”).

When you mismatch — formal subject, casual sign-off — the reader feels something is off without knowing what. This is the single fastest fix for emails that “sound weird in English.” Read your subject line out loud, then pick the closing.

How to Sign Off Your Name | 簽名格式

Three rules for your name block. First, give the English name you actually use day-to-day, not your passport name. If you go by Jenny, sign as Jenny — not 林雅婷 (Lin Yating). Western recipients lose track of which name to address you by.

Second, your title and company go on a separate line. Phone numbers belong below that, never inline with your name. Third, skip the inspirational quote at the bottom. Nobody reads it, and 60% of the time it’s an AI tell that makes the email feel templated.

If you’re emailing across time zones, add a one-line context cue under your title: “Taipei, GMT+8 — replies after 9 AM local.” This stops the back-and-forth scheduling nightmare with European or US contacts and signals that you respect their time. Pair this with the 35 negotiation phrases if your role involves vendor or client negotiations.

One Closing Trick That Native Speakers Use

Watch fluent business writers and you’ll spot a pattern: they reuse the recipient’s own closing in the next reply. If your client closed with “Cheers,” you close with “Cheers” in your response — never escalate to “Best regards.” This mirroring tells the reader you noticed, which builds rapport without saying a word. The same trick works in spoken English. It’s the cheapest way to sound socially fluent.

Want to stop sounding like a textbook? Pick three closings from this list — one formal, one friendly-professional, one casual — and rotate them this week. By Friday, your emails will sound less like a Taiwanese student of English and more like the working professional you actually are.

Sources

1. Grammarly — How to End an Email: The Best Email Sign-Offs — register guide for professional vs. casual closings.
2. Cambridge Dictionary — Email Grammar Reference — formal email punctuation rules.
3. Boomerang — 350,000 Emails Study on Sign-Off Response Rates — empirical reply-rate data.
4. Harvard Business Review — How to Write Email with Military Precision — subject-line-to-closing match rule.