1 English for International Business Communication 山东财经大学 李金萍

2 Unit 1 Business Letter-writing Part One Essentials of Business Essentials of Business Letter-writng Letter-writng

3 Functions of a business letter:  To ask for or to convey information  To make or to accept an offer  To deal with matters concerning negotiation of business  To remind the recipient of the sender ’ s existence.

4 Essential qualities of business letters: Three C ’ s: Clearness : Conciseness: Brief and to the point Courtesy: Politeness and consideration

5 ★ Clearness : Try to avoid the use of confused words,such as “today, yesterday,recently, bimonthly etc” 。 Using widely accepted abbreviations only. Keep your writing clear and completely readable by using good,straightforward and simple English.

6 e.g. 1) We confirm our offer dispatched yesterday.  We confirm our offer of 16th Jan. 2) As requested in your recent letter we have already sent the samples to you.  As requested in your letter PH-789 of 11 Feb, we sent you the samples by air parcel on Feb. 18.

7 3) As to the steamers from Hong Kong to San Francisco, we have bimonthly direct services. Bimonthly: Twice a month or Once two month  We have two direct sailings every month from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Or  We have one direct sailing from Hong Kong to San Francisco every two month.

8 ★ Conciseness ( 简要 ) Brief and to the point Writing short sentence rather than long ones. A letter for one subject is a good rule. A paragraph for each point is a good rule. “One idea, One sentence” “One topic, One paragraph” “One subject, one message”

9 e.g. ( 1)We take liberty to approach you with the request that you would be kind enough to introduce to us some exporters of cotton textiles in your city.  Would you please introduce to us some exporters of cotton textiles in your city?

10 (2) We would like to know whether you would allow us to extend the time of shipment for twenty days, and if you would be so kind as to allow us to do so, kindly give us your reply by cable without delay.  Please reply by cable immediately if you will allow us to delay the shipment until April 24th.

11 ★ Courtesy ( 礼貌 ) Politeness and consideration Business includes “ you ” and “ I ”, but “ you ” comes before “ I ”. Promptness & Punctuality ☺ 应注意问题： （ 1 ）不要盛气凌人，避免命令和粗鲁， 避免使用语气太强硬或容易引起不快的 词汇。

12 e.g. (1) You ought to tell us the truth immediately.  Perhaps you could tell us the truth immed. (2) Apparently you have already forgotten what I wrote you two weeks ago.  As mentioned in our Jan. 15th letter to you … (3) It was unwise of you to have done that.  We would say that it was unwise of you to have done that.  It seems to us that it was unwise …

13 (4) We cannot comply with your request.  We are afraid that we cannot comply with your request.  It’s a matter of regret that we are unable to comply with your request. (5) We are disgusted with your manner of doing business.  We are not completely satisfied with your manner of doing business.

14 (6) We must refuse your order.  We regret that we are unable to accept your order. (7) We want you to assist us.  Your assistance would be highly appreciated.

15 2. 多使用表示高兴、感谢、遗憾等词汇来 表达感情，使信函富有人情味。  We have the pleasure of doing sth.  We are pleased to do sth.  It shall be appreciated if ….  We appreciate your doing sth  We are grateful to learn that…  It’s a matter of regret that  We are sorry to do so…

16 3. 多使用虚拟语气和被动语态 。 （ 1 ） We wish you would let us have your reply. (2) Perhaps you would like to have a look at the actual goods. (3) You made a careless mistake.  A careless mistake was made. (4) You didn’t enclose the check with your order.  The check wasn’t enclosed with your order.

17 4. 多 “ You ” - attitude, 少 “ We ” - attitude 1) We allow 2% discount for cash payment. (2) We won’t be able to send you the brochure this month. You earn 2% discount when you pay cash. We will send you the brochure next month.

18 5. 但要注意不可过分谦卑，少用 “beg/ permit” 等词。 （ 1 ） We beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated….  We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated… (2) Please permit us to submit you the following offer for your kind consideration.  We submit you the following offer for your consideration.