The tone of email 电子邮件的口吻:正式还是非正式?

In thebusiness world, a lot of correspondence-especially to clients-is formal.

Formalityis largely achieved in several ways, such as using titles (Mr., Mrs., Dr.,

etc.),using polite language and avoiding the use of too many contractions. How do

youachieve politeness in a letter or an e-mail? Compare the following sentences:

在职场上,许多书信往来都是正式的──与客户的通信尤是如此。正式礼节大多通过一些方式就可做到,

诸如使用头衔称呼(Mr., Mrs., Dr. 等等)、使用礼貌用语及避免使用

太多的缩写形式。你要如何在信件上或是电子邮件上表现得有礼貌?比较以下的句子:

“不知道你是否可以在这项项目上帮我的忙。”这个句子有两种

说法:

I was wondering if you could help me onthis project.(正式)

Can you help me on this project?(非正式)

一般情况下,长度较长且语气委婉的信件视为正式;而句子简短直接的信件则视为非正式。

若要表示“不幸的是,我们无法准时交货。”这个句子有两种说法:

Unfortunately, it appears that we are unable to deliver the shipment

ontime.(正式)

We can't deliver the shipment on time.(非正式)

Althoughformality is common in business, there are numerous situations when

youwant to be informal in e-mails (in some cases, being overly formal can be

seenas being unfriendly). When seeking casualness, it's useful to be more

direct;however, don't forget to still be polite – you just don't need to beoverpolite.

Onemethod is to use more contractions. As well, abbreviations, which

arediscussed in the next section, are another way of gaining informality.

虽然在商场上正式的情况较常见,还是有许多情况下你会想在电子邮件中表达非正式

的感觉。(某些情况中,过度正式会被视为不友善。)想要随性时,直接一点会有帮

助,然而,别忘了还是要有礼貌──就是不需要太礼貌。一个方法就是多用缩写形

式。