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Context: business email.

I asked two questions and only one was answered. The second one was completely ignored — I don't know if the question was ignored on purpose or it was just overlooked. However, this second question is important to me and I'd really like to get an answer.

The original second question was:

I also wanted to ask if maybe it would be possible to add [Software] to the list of <...>

How can I politely ask to answer this question, without being too pushy or importunate?

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The first question was requesting some information (which was provided). The second question was asking about the possibility of getting our software listed in the recipient's online catalog. – Alex Jenter Jan 14 at 11:35
What were the words that you used? – Matt Эллен Jan 14 at 12:42
I blame top-posting, and I blame that on Microsoft. – Mitch Jan 14 at 13:11
@Matt: "I also wanted to ask if maybe it would be possible to add <Software> to the list of <...>" – Alex Jenter Jan 14 at 13:22
Seems that the question is deemed nonconstructive. Sorry for that. – Alex Jenter Jan 14 at 13:23

closed as not constructive by Jason Bourne, RegDwighт♦ Jan 14 at 11:48

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1 Answer

up vote 4 down vote accepted

This is more of a workplace issue than an English issue. You just ask the question again, possibly with a qualifiying addition like

Thanks for explaining the foo process. Are you also able to tell me about bar?

or

I'm glad you can attend the meeting. I also still need the location of the documents.

I find over half my correspondents are not able to handle multiple questions in a single email, even if it is addressed solely to them. The problem is worse when the email goes to multiple people. No amount of bullet-pointing, bolding the questions, or clues like "I have three questions for you" seems to help. Asking one email per question, even if it means sending three emails in 5 minutes to the same person, is a good approach.

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