商务英语信函的写作原则与技巧

河南科技学院新科学院

2011

级翻译期末论文

The writing principles and techniques of Business

English letters

商务英语信函的写作原则与技巧

学生姓名：

李卫芳

所在系别 ：

____

外国语言文学系

所在班级：

英

语

116

学

号：

2011080601

完成时间：

2014

年

6

月

Contents

Acknowledgments

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i

Abstract

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1

摘要

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..2

I. Introduction

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.3

II.

Basic parts of a Business English letter

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2

.1Letterhead … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …… … … ……

..3

2

.2 Date… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

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2

.3 Inside address… … … … … … … … … … … … …. … … … … … …

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...4

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.4 Salutation… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

.5

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.5 Body… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …… … … ……

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.6 Complimentary close … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … ……

...6

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.7 Signature … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …… … …

.6.

III. The writing principles of Business English letters

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3.1

Conciseness

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3.2

Clarity

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3.3

Completeness

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3.4

Concreteness

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3.5

Courtesy

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3.6

Correctness

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3.7

Consideration

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IV

.

The

writing

techniques

of

Business

English

letters

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4.1

Simple

words

best

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4.2

Adopt

the

right

tone

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4.3

Note

the

use

of

jargon

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4.4

Use

active

voice

rather

than

passive

voice

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4.5

Vary

sentence

length

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4.6

Have

suitable

paragraphs

length

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4.7

Pay

attention

to

first

and

last

impressions

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4.8

Check

your

letters

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V

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Conclusion

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14

Bibliography

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15

Acknowledgments

The

completion

of

this

paper

is

definitely

not

the

work

of

my

own,

but

the

collected

effort

and

help

of

many

other

people.

It

is

far

from

enough

to

just

thank

them here, but I will regret for all my life if I don’t.

First

of

all,

my

sincere

and

utmost

gratitude

goes

to

my

translation

teacher.

Although I am very interested in Business English, it is so abstract that at first I failed

to find it easy to write this essay, let alone the mastery of this subject. My gratitude

also goes to all the teachers in the English Department, who have taught me in each

different subject in English.

Moreover, I want to thank my roommates for their persistent encouragement and

deep

trust

in

me.

What

they

have

done

builds

up

my

confidence

and

clears

up

my

confusion, and I benefit quite a lot from their support.

Last but not least, my deepest thankfulness goes to my parents for their love and

education.

Without

their

devotion,

I

can

not

enjoy

my

study

in

the

university

and

receive so many people’s help in thesis writing and all other things.

Abstract

With the development of the globe economic and the continuous enlargement of

our

foreign

trade,

business

English

letters

become

increasingly

important

in

the

international

trade.

Business

English

letters

are

the

major

means

of

written

communication

between

two

parties

in

the

international

trade,

and

their

writing

is

very important to the business of the enterprise. Fortunately, some writing principles

and

techniques

can

be

used.

In

order

to

make

the

business

letters

accurate,

verbal

fluency,

easier

communication

and

understanding

for

the

trading

parties,

we

should

follow certain writing principles and use some writing techniques.

Key words:

Business English letters; writing principles; writing techniques

1

摘

要

随着全球经济的发展及我国对外贸易的不断扩大，

易中的地位也越发重要。

商 务英语信函是国际贸易双方进行书面商务信息沟通的

重要手段

,

其撰写的成功与否对企业的业务有着极其重要的影响。商务英语信函

的写作是有规律可循的

,

即应遵循一定的写作原则和采用一 些写作技巧

,

以使商

务信函表意准确< /p>

,

语言流畅

,

更 易于贸易双方的沟通与理解。

关键 词：

商务英语信函；写作原则；写作技巧

2

I. Introduction

No one in this world can live without communication. Communication is what

we human beings are born with. Of all forms of written communication, letters are the

most common, the most numerous, and the most personal. Correspondence is one of

the chief means of keeping oneself in touch with those separated by distance. Despite

the

availability

of

modern

means

of

quick

and

convenient

ways

of

communication,

letters are as important as they were centuries ago. With the growth of commerce and

industry, the usefulness of BC has also increased. When you enter a profession, you

will have to write dozens of letters every day as part of your routine work. Many of

these will be written to persons you have never met and perhaps you can never hope

to meet. You will be writing letters to other firms and companies, customers, suppliers,

associate organizations, government officers, employees, etc. Such letters are business

correspondence.

There

are

4

chapters

in

total

in

this

paper.

Firstly,

business

letters

have

7

standard

parts.

They

are:

letterhead,

date,

inside

address,

salutation,

body,

complimentary

close,

and

signature.

Secondly,

this

paper

introduces

The

writing

principles

of

Business

English

letters.

We

should

be

skilled

in

using

some

writing

skills except certain writing principles in Chapter last chapter is a conclusion

arrived at based on the previous research.

II. Basic parts of a Business English letter

Most

business

letters

have

7

standard

parts.

They

are:

letterhead,

date,

inside

address, salutation, body, complimentary close, and signature. We appropriate, any of

the following optional parts can be included: attention, subject, enclosure, postscript.

2.1 Letterhead

3

The letterhead expresses a firm’s personality and is generally printed on the firm’s

stationery.

It

helps

to

form

the

impression

of

the

writer’s

firm.

Styles

vary

considerably, but they all give similar information, usually containing all or some of

the following elements: the company’s name and address, postcode, telephone number,

fax number, e-mail address, even web address. They may be positioned in the center,

or at the left margin for the block style, or flush at the right margin for the style.

2.2

Date

Business letters should have the correct date typed under the letterhead. The date

should be typed or written in full, not in abbreviated form since the date records when

the letter is written and may serve as an important reference. It is usual to show the

date

in

the

order

of

date

/month/

year/

(British

practice),

or

month

/

day

/

year.

(American practice).

Regarding the date line, pat attention to the following points:

A. Year should be typed in full. Avoid abbreviation. For example, 2003 cannot be

replaced by 03.

B.

Month

is

preferably

spelled

out

in

letters,

to

avoid

confusion.

For

example,

12/11 can be November 12 or December 11.

C.

Day

either

cardinal

number

or

ordinal

numbers

can

be

used.

So

the

recommended forms for the date are as followings: October 25, 2011 or 25 October,

2011.

2.3

Inside address

The inside address consists of the name and the complete address of the receiver.

We

include

the

address

in

the

letter

although

it

already

appears

on

the

envelope

because the envelope is usually thrown away. Then the letter itself, which is to be kept

on

file,

can

indicate

for

whom

the

massage

was

intended.

It

is

usually

placed

two

spaces below the date line, aligned with the left margin.

4

If the letter is address to a group, the inside address includes only the address and

the group name. If it is to a person, use either a courtesy title or a professional title.

Care should be taken to address the recipient as exactly as it appears on the envelope

of the letter.

2.4

Salutation

Salutation

is

the

complimentary

greeting

with

which

every

letter

begins.

Salutation

can

be

followed

by

a

comma

or

a

colon.

Colon

is

formal

in

American

business letters, comma in British. Be sure to salute to the correct addressee appearing

in your inside address or in the attention line.

The customary formal greeting in a business letter is “

Dear Sir(s), Dear Madam

(s), Dear M

s” or an offic

i

al title like “President or Doctor”. If the receiver is known to

the

writer

personally,

a

less

formal

an

d

warmer

greeting

is

used:

“Dear

Mr

White,

Dear Ms John

”.

2.5

Body

Body is the most important part of a letter since it contains the actual message. The

body

of

the

letter

deserves

special

attention

no

matter

how

brief

it

may

be.

It

is

advisable to bear the

following principles of “7C’s” in mind when writing this core

part. Then careful planning and logical arrangement are needed for the paragraphs. A

typical 3-paragraph letter would like the following:

The

opening

paragraph

introduces

the

letter.

Keep

the

first

sentence

short

and

easy to understand and keep the opening paragraph short, probably no more than two

or three lines. A short opening paragraph is easier to read, and it does not intimidate

the reader.

The middle paragraph supports the first paragraph and provides more information.

Here, try to bring in your involvement or what service or information you can offer.

The closing paragraph is the summary of the letter; it stresses the action that you

5

want

to

the

reader

to

take;

it

states

exactly

what

you

want

the

reader

to

do,

and

it

leaves the impression of the courtesy. Like any goodbye, jog the reader’s memory if

there

is

something

that

you

want

the

reader

to

do,

but

keep

the

closing

short

and

friendly.

2.6

Complimentary close

The complimentary close is simply a polite way to end a letter. The expression

for the complimentary close should match the salutation. It appears in the middle of

the page and two lines below the closing sentence for indented layout while it starts at

the left- hand margin for fully blocked letters. Only the initial letter in the first word

of any complimentary close is capitalized.

2.7

Signature

The signature is the signed name or seal of the writer. It is generally put two lines

below

the

complimentary

close.

It

should

be

signed

by

hand

and

in

ink.

Under

the

handwritten signature, the signer’s name and his or her position are usually followed.

III.

The writing principles of Business English letters

Business

English

letters

play

an

important

role

in

the

development

of

goodwill

and friendly trade relationship. They should be friendly and courteous, easy to read

and easy to understand. In writing a business letter, there are certain principles for you

to

follow.

Called

“7C’s”,

they

are:

conciseness,

clarity,

completeness,

concre

teness,

courtesy, correctness and consideration.

3.1 Conciseness

6