英文商務郵件寫作時如何避免「語氣偏硬」的感覺？

01-20

商務公文寫作中遇到瓶頸，在解決了「信」、「達」的問題之後，如何才能「雅」呢？
最近看自己寫的郵件，總有懷疑是不是在對方看來我的語氣都屬於「不夠禮貌」？前次和一個合作夥伴出差，他是在美國讀大學之後入籍的，一起見客戶時也發覺了這樣的問題：許多「聽起來有禮貌、漂亮」的詞聽的懂，但是這些詞不在我平時主動和慣用的辭彙範圍內。
之前也看過一些吐槽，說中國人的英文在出國交流時常常會顯得語氣硬而不自知；去年看深圳衛視《極速前進》第一期90後組合在美國時也感覺到有這個問題，求助路人時會直接講「 I need your help, I must finish XXX, you need to help me."
除了堅持背單詞，還有什麼辦法可以使英文交流中自己顯得語氣更禮貌、和緩？

1. 抬頭：

Dear 某某，也可以說 Hi 某某某，美國人一般不會在意。

稱謂千萬不要搞錯。

別人的名字要拼對。

沒見過面的話請先搞清楚性別。

如果別人沒有說可以用First Name, 請用Mr. /Ms. /Mrs + 姓氏。但如果別人已經說過可以用First Name 就大膽用。

如果是女士，但不確定是否已婚，一律用Ms.。

還有一種人叫博士，如果名片上、網頁上寫的是 Dr. +姓氏，請千萬沿用

我真心認為搞對稱謂是Email最重要的一部分，如果稱謂都錯了，那你是對對方有多不重視。

2. 引句

在切入主題前，說

I hope all is well.

OR: Greetings to you and your coworkers.

OR: Welcome back to work! I hope you had a wonderful vacation in Hawaii.

- 更多 at: Business Writing: Opening Sentences for Global Email

如果是延續之前的對話，還可以說

Thank you for contacting me / Thank you for your time / Thank you for your prompt reply.

反正多謝別人沒錯。

3. 正文

如果是請求幫助，每一句里都請加Please。

問句&>祈使句

"Could I please borrow your car" / "Would you let me use your car" 比 "Please let me borrow your car" 要溫柔很多。

另外的常用句式還有：

My company would really appreciate if you could help us in...

We will be very grateful if you could...

It would mean a lot to us if you...

4. 結束語

如果對方已經幫了你： Thank you so much for your help.

如果對方還沒答應幫： Thank you so much for your help in advance.

如果你在等對方聯繫你：

I look forward to meeting you / talking to you on the phone. / Hope to hear from you soon.

如果以上都不相干： Have a nice day / nice weekend!

5. 簽名

Best, / Sincerely

你的名字

一個簡單的原則是把祈使句變成問句，然後根據需要加上自己的理由來加強緊迫感。比如你想把會議室的窗戶關上，因為你覺得冷了。

I need to close this window because I am cold. －太生硬了

Do you mind if I close this window? I am really cold. －有禮貌而且難以拒絕的請求！

如果想讓別人替你關上窗戶：

Please close the window because I am cold. －太生硬了

Could you please close the window? I am really cold. －還是有點生硬。雖然是問句，別人還是覺得這是個命令。

Do you mind closing the window? I am really cold. －好有禮貌。我都不好意思拒絕你的請求了！

試著練習不用please還能讓行文看起來有禮貌。

看了之前的回答，其實用Dear，Please，用不用Mr./Ms這些確實也挺重要，但是這些是是讓你的郵件顯得有禮數和正式。提問者的點應該是指具體句子的寫法。這裡有幾個很量化的場景及對應的小句型可以推薦，也就是固定套路，希望有幫助

當你發郵件的場景符合以下3種情況時，注意要用軟化委婉並且禮貌的語氣提出請求，讓你的郵件看起來不那麼生硬

When the person to whom we are making the request does not have an obligation to say yes. 當你發郵件的對象沒有義務一定要做你請求的事情的時候
When we are making a big request. 當你的請求別人幫大忙的時候
When we are making a request to someone who is at a higher level within the company. 當你向你公司比你高級別的人做請求要求的時候。

嘗試用以下句型來軟化你的請求，讓句子禮貌而委婉。

I was hoping you/I could…

I was hoping you could work this Saturday.

I was hoping I could take Friday off.

I was wondering if you/I could…

I was wondering if you could cover my shift next Tuesday.

I was wondering if I could take an extended lunch break to run some errands.

Do you think you/I might be able to..?

Do you think you might be able to help me out with these reports?

Do you think I might be able to leave a few minutes early so I can pick up my child from school?

1. 用May i ask you ....代替 Please do....

May i ask you pay attention to the following information 代替 Please pay attetion to the follwing information.

2. Please 用時最好不要放在句首放句尾

表示請求時多用句式 I was wondering could you do sth please

開頭怎麼寫

Good morning/afternoon/evening from +地點

Hope this message finds you well.

Hope all is good.

寫信通知別人一些事情

Kindly note that,,,,,

提醒別人

Kindly be reminded that...

結尾

should you have any queries, feel free to let me know please.

郵件多用could you, would you, 少用can you, 盡量加上pls(please)；別對自己的長句能力那麼自信，能寫兩句別寫一句，能寫幾個points就不要寫一個大長句。郵件寫完自己多讀兩遍，低級錯誤的殺傷力遠比你想像的大。資深的經理人能從幾十頁的財務模型中一眼看出一個數字的格式不對。

多用疑問句，外國人不會直接說I need your help而說Could you do me a favor?