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。