商务英语信函

1、一封正式的英文书信通常包括下面几个组成部分：信头(heading)、信内地址(inside address)、称呼(salutation)、正文(body)、结束语(complimentary close)、签名(signature)、附件(enclosure)、副本转送(carbon copies)、再启(postscript)等。,英文书信的组成部分,关于称呼,不认识的人：dear sir/madam 认识但不熟悉的人：dear mr./mrs./ms./ dr./ prof. smith 朋友：dear mary,关于结束语,写给机关、团体或不认识的人：yours truly, trul

2、y yours, yours faithfully, yours sincerely 写给长者或上级：yours respectfully, respectfully yours, yours obediently 朋友或亲戚：yours, ever yours, yours ever, yours affectionately, lovingly yours, (much) love, with love, your devoted friend,信件常用称呼和落款用法,英文书信的基本原则 英文书信的书写可概括为7个c原则：completeness （完整）, clarity（清楚）, co

3、ncreteness（具体）, conciseness（简明）, correctness（正确）, courtesy（谦恭）, consideration（谅解）。,商务信函 business letter,content,definition layout/type language features translation principles practice & analyses,definition,书信是日常生活中常用的文体，是用以交涉事宜、传达信息、交流思想、联络感情、增进了解的重要工具。 书信一般可分为商务信函或公函（business letter or official co

4、rrespondence）和私人信件（private letter）两大类。 商务信函：商务往来中的信件，是“人们互相联系，彼此交往，交流思想，沟通信息，洽谈事物所使用的一种应用文体。” 英语商务信函的格式与汉语的信函格式有明显区别，应先确定商务信函各要素的含义，然后再进行得体的翻译。,definition,layout & type,layout of a business letter 商业信函的格式,three major forms indented form 缩格式 blocked form 齐头式 modified blocked form 改良齐头式,缩格式示例,日期靠右,具体收

5、信人 和事由居中,段首缩格,结尾敬语和 落款偏右,除信头外全部左对齐,段落之间用空格,齐头式示例,案号和日期靠右,落款偏右,改良齐头式示例,envelope addressing,信封格式,写信人在上，收信人在下,信封格式不一, 根据收信人名称地址的写法通常分两种格式： 缩格式：收信人名称地址逐行右缩 齐头式：收信人名称地址左端对齐,缩格式举例,收信人名称地址：逐行右缩,写信人名称地址,齐头式举例,写信人名称地址,收信人名称地址：左端对齐,parts,?,英语商务信函的构成,基本部分,其他部分,信头(letter head),日期(date), 封内地址(inside address), 称呼

6、(salutation or greeting), 信的正文(body of the letter), 结束礼词(complimentary close), 签名(signature),附件(enclosureenc.), 附言(postscriptp.s.), 经办人姓名(attention line), 事由(subject or heading), 查号或参考编号(reference no.), 抄送(carbon copy notation c.c.),英文商务信函的格式和结构,信头 letter head 编号（写信人的名字缩写）和日期 the sender name and the

7、 date 信内地址 the inside address 事由 the subject heading/主办人 (attention) 称呼 the salutation 开头语 the open sentences 正文 the body of the letter 结尾语 the complimentary close 结束敬语 the complimentary close 签名 the signature/职务 (position) 打字员或拟稿人员首字母(initials) 附件 (enclosure/enc) 抄送 (carbon copy/c.c.) 附言 (postscrip

8、t/p.s),标题 发函字号 收函单位或收件人姓名 正文 结束套语 发函单位或发函人姓名 发函时间 附件,中文商务信函的结构,opening/contact para.,main body,closing para.,type,建立业务关系函 (cooperation intention) 产品推销函 (promotion) 资信查询函 (credit inquiry) 询盘函 (inquiry) 发盘还盘函 (offer and counter-offer) 订购函 (purchase) 装运通知函 (shipment) 支付结算函 (payment) 索赔函 (claim) 保险函 (in

9、surance),商务信函分类：10种商务信函涵盖了商品交易过程中的各个环节。,language features,词法特征,（1）用词规范正式，多用书面语,我们确认已经以电报的方式给你们发出了一项实盘，该实盘成立的条件就是你们的答复在10月10日之前到达我们这里。 1.现确认已向贵方电发实盘，10月10日前复到有效。 we confirm that we have sent you a firm offer by telegraph and it is subject to your reply reaching us by october 10. we confirm having cab

10、led you a firm offer subject to your reply reaching us by october 10.,2.we are pleased to advise you that your order no.105 has been dispatched in accordance with your instruction. 我们很高兴地通知你们：第105号订单货物已遵照你方指示运出。,2）用词准确、专业性强：大量使用专业术语、缩略语,coverage 覆盖？ 险种 险别 your information as to the coverage you woul

11、d like would be appreciated. 敬请告知贵方希望的险种。 draft 草稿 ？ 汇票 as to the affairs on negotiation of draft, we would like to have them preformed at the bank of taiwan, taipei. 有关汇票之承兑事宜，本公司希望由台北的台湾银行完成。,ceiling 天花板？ 最高费用 we shall write and ask for their ceiling for the advertising project and then we can bud

12、get accordingly. 我们将写信询问他们广告项目的最高费用，然后相应做出预算。,payment shall be made by irrevocable l/c at sight to be opened in our favour. 货款必须用以我方为受益人而开立的、不可撤销的即期信用证支付。,到岸价cif (cost, freight and insurance) 离岸价fob(free on board) 成本加运费cfr (cost and freight) 形式发票proforma invoice,3. 多采用礼貌客气的措辞,1.敬请优先考虑上述请求。 your prio

13、rity to the consideration of the above request will be appreciated. 2.恳请寄给我方贵方价格单和产品目录。 please kindly send us your price list and catalogue. 3.承蒙早日回复，不胜感激。 your early reply is highly appreciated.,4.用词简洁明了，尽量避免使用修辞手法,感谢贵方合作。 i wish to thank you, for you have cooperated with us well. thank you for you

14、r kind cooperation.,句法特征,1. 多用复合句,1. in order to enable us to capture a part of the market for you, we sincerely hope that you will make us a further concession, for example, a discount of 15% instead of 10% as you planned to give us on an order worth approximately us$ 10,000. 为使我方替贵方打开一片市场，真诚希望贵方给予

15、我方更多优惠，譬如， 按贵方计划，订单总值约10000美元，给予我方15%的折扣，而非10%。,2. your company is made up of a strong team of software experts, so you will surely succeed in developing competitive systems with such powerful technical forces. 贵公司拥有一支由软件专家组成的庞大队伍，技术力量相当雄厚，必定能够开发出具有竞争力的软件系统。,2.多用陈述句,（1）英语商务信函多用陈述句，少用祈使句；汉语多使用祈使句。 敬请

16、立刻修改信用证以便我方及时发货。 please immediately amend the l/c to enable us to make timely shipment. we should be obliged for your immediate amendment of the l/c to enable us to make timely shipment.,3. 大量使用套语,回复对方的来信时用： 兹回复贵方（某日）来函in reply to your letter of (+日期)/ regarding your letter of (+日期)/ referring to yo

17、ur letter of (+日期) 希望对方回复时用： 如蒙答复，当不胜感激。/敬请回复。/敬请（速）回复。 your kind reply will greatly oblige us. your (prompt) reply would be appreciated. 盼复looking forward to your positive/favourable/affirmative reply,收到对方来函时用： 贵函敬悉/贵函收悉 we are in receipt of your letter/ we acknowledge receipt of your letter/ we ad

18、mit receipt of your letter 表示通知对方时： 特此奉告we are pleased to inform you 特此函告notice is hereby given that,随函附上某物时用： 同函奉上/ 随函附上 enclosed we hand/ enclosed please find/ we are enclosing 表示礼貌委婉的语气用： 感谢贵方 thank you for 很高兴we are glad/ pleased to 对深表感激we are grateful (obliged) for 非常遗憾 we regret to 甚为遗憾 we ar

19、e very sorry to,4. 少用否定句,请贵方来函内容更清楚些，这样我方便可立即接受贵方报盘。 a. your letter is not clear at all and i cannot understand it. b. if i understood your letter correctly, i would immediately accept your offer.,一旦我方收到贵方支票，会马上填写订货单。 a. we cannot fill your order because you failed to send your check. b. we shall be

20、 glad to fill your order as soon as we receive your check.,5. 适当使用被动结构,英语商务信函适当使用被动语态；汉语则很少使用被动语态 望尽快报盘。 make the offer as soon as possible. it is hoped that the offer is made as soon as possible.,your prices have been agreed on with one exception. 贵公司所提供的价格已经同意，但有一项例外。 we shall be obliged if you wi

21、ll let us know your lowest cif new york price for 100 sets of your classical furniture no. 628. 敬请告知贵公司628型100套古典家俱纽约到岸价的最低价格。,语篇特征,商务信函术语比较正式的公文体，行文端正，用字洗练，具有七个语篇特征，即7”c”原则： 礼貌原则(courtesy) 体谅原则(consideration) 完整原则(completeness) 清楚原则(clarity) 简洁原则(conciseness) 具体原则(concreteness) 正确原则(correctness),一、

22、礼貌原则(courtesy) courtesy译成“礼貌”。但是根据西方国家函电书籍作者普遍的看法，所谓courtesy是“客气而又体谅人”的意思。这样的形式很多，现在提供一些常见的供参考： （一） 把命令变成请求的常用形式： please, will you., will you please.,如： a) will you give us more detailed information on your requirement? b) will you please (kindly) let us hear from you on these two points?,（二） 虚拟式（pa

23、st subjunctive form）如： a) would you compare our sample with the goods of other firms? b) we would ask you to ship the goods by the first available vessel. c) we wish you would let us have your reply soon. d) this would seem to confirm our opinion. e) we should be grateful if you would help us with y

24、our suggestion. f) we might be of some service to you in a similar case.,（三） 缓和用法（mitigation） 为了缓和过分强调或刺激对方，常用: we are afraid, we would say, we may(or, might) say, we(would) think, it seems(or would seem) to us, we(would) suggest, as you are (or: may be) aware, as we need hardly point out等等表达法来缓和语气，

25、如： a) it was unwise of you to have done that. we would say that it was unwise of you to have done that. b) you ought to have done it. it seems to us that you ought to have done it. c) we cannot comply with your request. we are afraid we cannot comply with your request. d) our products are the very b

26、est on the market. we might say that our products are the very best on the market.,二、体谅原则 (consideration) 强调从对方角度考虑问题，体谅对方，以对方为重。 多用疑问句或陈述句代替祈使句表示建议或请求。 isnt it time you put your business on the web? 现在不正是您进行电子商务的最佳时机吗？ 三、具体原则(concreteness) 明确不能含糊 we regret that a mistake was made in handling your o

27、rder. the mistake is entirely our own and we apologize for the inconveniences it has caused.,四、完整原则(completeness) cellulose tape 1/2x 3yds, with plastic dispenser 700 doz./ ditto-but 1/2“ x 5 yds, 1,000doz.” 这是出口商接到的一份定单中有关商品品名，规格和数量的内容。 “纤维素带（幅）宽半英寸，长码，带塑料包装容器，0打；同上，但（幅）宽半英寸，长码，打。” 问题是后半句不清楚。 “ditt

28、o”在这里表示前面提到的纤维素带，但不能包括“带塑料包装容器”，因此，幅英寸长码的纤维素带是否要塑料包装容器没有说清楚，不完整。 改成： “cellulose tape 1/2”x 3yds, with plastic dispenser 700 doz. cellulose tape 1/2“ x 5yds，with plastic dispenser 1000 doz.“ 这样既完整，又清楚明确，不引起误解。,五、清晰原则(clarity) 避免使用可能产生不同理解或意义不明确的词 例如： as to the steamers sailing from hongkong to san fr

29、ancisco, we have bimonthly direct services. (从香港到旧金山有直达船，) 但是bimonthly 究竟是一个月两次呢，还是两个月一次？不明确。,六、简洁原则 (conciseness) 简洁是有客观标准的。虽然西方国家的作者之间在怎样用词才算简洁方面还是有争论的，不过他们的一些看法还是有一定参考价值的。 怎样才能使商业书信“简洁”？ 西方国家作者有很多建议，先介绍如下： （一） 避免使用陈旧的商业术语 陈旧的与传统的商业术语（commercial jargon）对信的内容没有什么作用，应该避免使用。,wordy: we take liberty to

30、 approach you with the request that you would be kind enough to introduce to us some exporters of cotton textiles in your cities. would you please introduce to us some exporters of cotton textiles in your city? concise: please introduce to us some exporters of cotton textiles in your city.,（二） 要长话短说，避免罗嗦 通常商业人士每天需要阅读大量的书信，对开门见山，长话短说，直接切题的信特别欢迎。因此， 写信要力求长话短说， 例如： we express our regret at being unable to fulfill your order on this occasion. 改为 we are so