BBC职场英语|商务英语|Office English-Emails

📜英文文稿

Office English 职场英语

Upper intermediate level  中高级水平

Introduction 引言

Do you struggle to write the perfect email at work? It can be difficult to know how formal or friendly to be when you are writing to a colleague, your boss, or somebody at another company. Can you use 'Hi' in an email? How do you end your email so that someone will reply? In this episode of Office English, Pippa and Phil talk about their email habits and suggest some useful phrases for different situations.

在工作中，你是否常常为如何写出完美的邮件而苦恼？在给同事、上司或其他公司的同事写信时，很难判断该使用多正式或多友好的语气。在邮件中可以使用“Hi”这个称呼吗？又该如何结尾才能让对方愿意回复呢？在这一期的《职场英语》节目中，Pippa和Phil将分享他们的邮件写作习惯，并为不同情况提供一些实用的表达方式。

TRANSCRIPT 转录文稿

Note: This is a transcript of a spoken conversation and is not a word-for-word script.注：这是口语对话的记录，并非逐字稿。

Pippa皮帕Emails. Should they be formal? Friendly? It can be difficult to know.电子邮件。应该保持正式风格，还是友好风格呢？这很难抉择。

Voicenote clips  剪辑片段More formal than informal, although at times you might get a smiley face from me.比非正式场合更正式，不过有时我也会发个笑脸表情。

If it's someone that I've never spoken to before then it's more formal. But I'd still probably say Hi rather than Dear.如果是从未交谈过的人，我会用更正式的称呼。不过我大概还是会说“嗨”，而不是“亲爱的”。

You know, those technicalities of when to write Kind regards and when to write Best wishes.你知道的，关于什么时候该用“祝好”，什么时候该用“致以最美好的祝愿”这些细节问题。

Phil菲尔Today on Office English, we're learning the best language for emails, whoever you're sending them to.今天在《职场英语》节目中，我们将学习无论给谁写邮件，哪种语言都是最佳选择。

Pippa皮帕Hello and welcome to a brand new business podcast series Office English from BBC Learning English. I'm Pippa.您好，欢迎收听BBC学习英语频道全新推出的商务播客系列《职场英语》。我是皮帕。

Phil菲尔And I'm Phil. And in this series, we'll be guiding you through the trickier areas of business language and discussing some useful words and phrases for you to use in the office or wherever you work.我是菲尔。在这一系列内容中，我们将为您讲解商务用语中较为复杂的部分，并介绍一些在办公室或工作场所中可以使用的实用词汇和短语。

Pippa皮帕Business language can be tricky. Even for native speakers of English. And the workplace is changing all the time with new technology and more people working from home. So we're here to talk about some of the techniques and phrases that we use at work.商务用语其实相当棘手，即便是以英语为母语的人也未必能得心应手。而且随着新技术的出现以及越来越多的人选择在家工作，工作环境也在不断变化。因此，今天我们就来聊聊在工作中会用到的各种技巧和表达方式。

Phil菲尔At BBC Learning English we're all fluent English speakers working in a British cultural context. So that's the situation we have the most advice for. But we'll try to point out where things might be a bit different in different workplaces around the world.在 BBC学习英语频道，我们都是精通英语的人，且工作环境都处于英国文化背景之下。因此，我们能提供的建议主要针对这种情况。不过，我们也会试着指出，在世界各地的不同工作环境中，情况可能会有哪些差异。

Pippa皮帕This first episode is all about emails. We've already heard from BBC colleagues that not everyone agrees on how we should write emails. But what do you think, Phil? Should an email sound like a letter?这一集的主题全是关于电子邮件的。我们已经从BBC的同事那里得知，并非所有人都认同我们应当如何撰写邮件。那你觉得呢，菲尔？邮件应该写得像信件吗？

Phil菲尔Probably not. Everything with email depends on the situation, depends on who you're writing to and why. But I think an email is usually a lot less formal than a letter.大概不会吧。使用电子邮件时，需要视具体情况而定，还要考虑收件人是谁以及写信的目的是什么。不过我觉得，电子邮件通常比信件要随意得多。

Pippa皮帕Mmm yes, I agree. I would say I'm quite informal in most of my emails. But, as you say, it depends on who I'm emailing. So, in this episode, we're going to look at how to address emails, some useful email phrases, and how to sign off depending on who you're sending the email to.呃，我同意。我可以说，在大多数邮件中我的语气都相当非正式。不过，正如你所说，这取决于收信人是谁。在这一集中，我们将探讨如何撰写邮件标题、使用一些有用的邮件用语，以及根据收信人身份来决定如何结尾。

Phil菲尔OK, so first off, the email greeting. What phrases are we looking at here, Pippa?好的，首先是从邮件问候语开始。皮帕，我们这里要考虑哪些表达呢？

Pippa皮帕OK, so the first phrase we could use to start an email would be to say Dear Phil. What do you think about that?好的，那么我们可以用来开头写邮件的第一句话就是“亲爱的菲尔，您觉得怎么样？”您觉得如何？

Phil菲尔I do use Dear sometimes. It's not the one I use most, but I do use it. And I'll tell you when I use it. I use it when I'm writing an email to someone I've not written to before or someone who I'm a little bit scared of. Or maybe someone who's very important or very serious. Or if someone wrote to me and they used Dear, I'd look at what they've said and sort of mirror it, I'd do the same back.我有时会使用“Dear”这个称呼。虽然这不是我最常使用的称呼，但偶尔也会用。我会在你问的时候再告诉你具体在什么情况下会使用它。比如，当我给那些我之前从未联系过的人、或者让我有些害怕的人写邮件时，就会使用这个称呼。又或者，对方是地位很高、非常重要的人物时，我也会这样写。如果有人给我写信时也用了“Dear”这个称呼，我就会看看他们写了什么，然后模仿他们的写法来回复。

So I do use, Dear. But it's not the one I use most often because I think in an email it sounds a bit formal.亲爱的，我确实会使用它。但它并非我最常使用的工具，因为我觉得在邮件中使用它会显得有点正式。

Pippa皮帕Yes, I agree. There's nothing wrong with saying Dear Phil. Nobody would think that that was bad English. I use it sometimes if I had to write an email on behalf of a company.是的，我同意。写“亲爱的菲尔”这样的称呼没什么问题，没人会认为那是错误的表达方式。如果需要代表公司写邮件，我有时也会这么写。

So, you know, a more formal email that's not from me, but from the company that I represent. What I might use for a more personal email to a colleague, or something, is just to say Hi or Hello.所以，那种比较正式的邮件并非由我本人发送，而是由我所代表的公司发出。而如果是给同事发比较私人的邮件，我可能会简单写上“嗨”或“你好”而已。

Phil菲尔Yeah, and actually this is the one that I use the most. I think 90% of my emails probably start with Hi. Definitely with someone I know I’d use Hi. If I'm not worried about who I'm writing to in any big way then I would use Hi. It's not formal, but in an email, it's not very informal, either, I don't think.是的，实际上这是我使用最频繁的称呼。我大概 90%的邮件都是以“嗨”作为开头的。如果是给认识的人写信，我肯定会用“嗨”。如果我不太在意收信人是谁的话，也会选择用“嗨”。虽然这不算正式的称呼，但我觉得在邮件中使用它也并不算太随意。

Pippa皮帕Yes. And certainly in the UK we're more and more informal at work. So emails sound more and more like text messages. Not completely, but saying Hi or Hello doesn't feel out of place. One thing I like to say sometimes, if I'm not sure whether to be formal or informal, is to start my email with Good morning or Good afternoon. What do you think about that?是的。在英国，工作场合的交流方式也越来越非正式了。因此，邮件写起来也越来越像短信。虽然并非完全如此，但用“嗨”或“你好”作为开头也并不显得不合时宜。如果不确定该用正式还是非正式的语气，我有时会选择在邮件开头写上“早上好”或“下午好”。您觉得怎么样？

Phil菲尔I think that's a really nice way to do it because it, it can sound kind of friendly, but it can also sound kind of formal. You can sort of see it in two different ways.我觉得这是一种很好的处理方式，因为这种方式既能显得友好，又能显得正式。可以从两个不同的角度来理解它。

Pippa皮帕Yes. If you said Good morning to someone when you were speaking that would sound quite formal. It makes me think of being at school and you would say, sort of Good morning, Miss or Good morning, Sir to the teacher. What about emails where you don't know the name of the person, Phil? What would you do then?是的。如果在与人交谈时使用“早上好”这样的问候语，会显得相当正式。这让我想起在学校时的情景——那时我们会对老师说“老师，早上好”。那如果是在邮件中，而不知道收件人的名字呢，菲尔？你又会怎么做呢？

Phil菲尔Oh, yes. We've got all these formula for using in letters like To whom it may concern or Dear Sir or Madam. But they often sound a bit cold and a bit unfriendly. It does depend on the situation. It will be different in different countries. It might be different in different industries. If you're a lawyer, it might be different. But I would probably use... If you use Hi, you don't actually need to say who you're writing to you can just say Hi.哦，是的。我们有许多用于书信开头的短语，比如“致相关人士”或“尊敬的先生/女士”。不过这些短语听起来往往有点冷漠，缺乏亲切感。其实这要视具体情况而定——不同国家、不同行业可能会有不同的表达方式。如果是律师的话，用法可能也会有所不同。但我个人会选择用“嗨”作为开头语，因为这样就不必再注明写信的对象是谁了，直接说“嗨”就可以了。

Pippa皮帕Yeah, that's really useful because when you say Dear at the start of an email, you need to put the name of the person. You can't just say Dear [pause] I'm writing about... that doesn't make sense in English. So, yeah Hi is really useful. Again, Good morning, Good afternoon work as well because you don't need the name. You can also hide the fact that you don't know the name of the person. Sometimes people like you to know and have researched who you're messaging. Sometimes that's not possible. So, just saying Hi or Hi there could work to be really friendly, but mask the fact that you don't know their name.是的，这真的很有用，因为当你在邮件开头说Dear时，你需要写上对方的名字。你不能只说Dear[停顿]我写信是关于……这在英语里说不通。所以，是的，Hi 真的很有用。同样，Good morning、Good afternoon 也可以，因为你不需要名字。你还可以掩饰你不知道对方名字这一事实。有时候，人们希望你知道并事先了解你在给谁发消息。有时候这又不可能。所以，只说 Hi 或 Hi there 可以显得非常友好，同时又能掩盖你不知道对方名字的事实。

Right, so we've started our email OK. Next, let's look at a couple of popular email phrases and when we might use them.好的，我们的邮件功能已经准备就绪了。接下来，我们来了解一下一些常用的邮件表达方式，以及何时该使用它们。

Phil菲尔OK, yes. So we've got this one here: I am writing to enquire about... What do you think of that?好的，没错。那么我们有这样的表述：我写信是为了咨询……您觉得怎么样？

Pippa皮帕Well, that's kind of a formal way to state what your email is about. It's something you might write in a letter. We don't tend to use it in emails as much. I might say, if I was trying to be a bit friendlier, I'm wondering if you can help me with... instead of I'm writing to enquire about...嗯，那是一种比较正式的表达邮件内容的方式。通常会在信件中使用这种表达方式，而在电子邮件里则不太常用。如果我想让语气更友善一些，可能会说“不知道您能否帮我解决……”而不是“我写这封邮件是为了询问……”。

Phil菲尔Yes, no definitely. It's something that sounds very normal in a letter, but a bit strange in most emails, I think. OK, we've got another one here. Please find attached...是的，绝对不行。在书信中这样写很正常，但用在大多数电子邮件里的话，就有点奇怪了。好的，这里还有另一封邮件。请查看附件……

Pippa皮帕Ah, yes. This is one that you see a lot. And we might use please find attached... in an email to say that we're sending a file or a link. So that's what it means. A more informal way of saying this would just be to say here is... the document you asked for, here is... the report or here's... the link to the podcast that you wanted to listen to. That would be probably a more friendly way to write an email to a colleague or someone at work that you know well, rather than please find attached... But I think please find attached... has a place in an email occasionally.啊，对。这是很常见的一种表达方式。在邮件中，我们常常会用“请查收附件……”这样的表述，来说明自己正在发送某个文件或链接。它的意思就是如此。另一种更非正式的说法则是直接说“这是您要的文档”、“这是您要求的报告”，或者“这是您想听的播客的链接”。对于那些关系较好的同事或工作伙伴来说，用这种方式写邮件会更为友好一些，相比“请查收附件……”而言。不过我觉得，“请查收附件……”这种表达在某些情况下也是合适的。

Phil菲尔Yeah. Again, we were talking about formal ones, maybe if you're representing a company or writing to people that you don't know. A bit of a guide for emails can be that emails are a lot more like the way we speak to someone. Whereas letters are often... formal letters are often a bit different to the way that you would talk to someone.是的。我们之前讨论的是正式的邮件写法，比如当你代表公司行事，或是给不认识的人写信时。关于邮件的写作指南是：邮件其实更接近于我们与别人交谈的方式；而书信则往往……正式的书信与日常交谈的方式有所不同。

And finally. How should we say goodbye at the end of the email. What are the options, Pippa?最后，我们在邮件结尾该如何道别呢？有哪几种方式，皮帕？

Pippa皮帕OK, so our first option would be to say something like Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully. What do you think of that, Phil?好吧，那么我们的第一个选择就是写上“谨上”或“诚挚地”之类的措辞。菲尔，你觉得怎么样？

Phil菲尔Now, this is the thing you always get taught to put at the end of a formal letter. I remember at school being taught this and I think it's probably still true for a formal letter. But I think it's a bit unusual on an email, even quite a formal email, I think it's unusual to see this.其实，这一直是人们被教导要写在正式信件末尾的内容。我记得在学校时也学过这一点，我想对于正式信件来说，这一做法仍然是正确的。不过在电子邮件中，即便是在比较正式的邮件里，使用这种方式似乎也有点不太寻常。

Pippa皮帕Yes, something that people might use instead, even in quite a formal email, is to say something like Kind regards because it's quite formal, but it still sounds polite.是的，即使是在比较正式的邮件中，人们也可以使用别的表达方式，比如“祝好”，因为这种表达很正式，但依然显得很有礼貌。

Phil菲尔Yeah, I actually often just use Regards a lot at the end of my emails. And it's, it's because it's in that sort of sweet spot of being a bit formal, but a bit friendly and it means I don't have to think too much about what I'm putting at the end of an email. Cos I'm never sure.是的，我其实经常在邮件结尾使用“祝好”这个词。因为它刚好处于一种既正式又友好的完美状态，这样我就不必再费心去考虑该在邮件结尾写什么了。因为我总是拿不定主意。

Pippa皮帕Mmm, I usually will say All the best or Best wishes particularly if it's to somebody I don't know well, or it's the first time I’ve emailed someone, because it's quite formal. But it's good to switch up the options. Especially if you're emailing back and forth a lot with somebody. You don't want to keep writing the same thing. I just find that feels a bit strange to keep saying All the best. Especially when they reply quickly and then you reply. It's just like seems like it has no meaning by that point.嗯，通常我会写“祝一切顺利”或“致以最美好的祝愿”，尤其是当对方是我不太熟悉的人，或者这是我第一次给某人发邮件时，因为这样比较正式。不过偶尔变换一下表达方式也不错。特别是当你与某人频繁往来邮件的时候，就不应该一直重复使用同样的话。我一直觉得，一直只说“祝一切顺利”有点奇怪。尤其是当对方很快回复，而你再回复时，那样做似乎就没什么意义了。

Phil菲尔Now, this might be a very English thing because we do this a lot and often look for opportunities to do it, but if it makes sense to say Thanks or Many thanks at the end of the email, I will often do that.这或许是很典型的英国做法，因为我们经常这么做，也总在寻找机会这样做；但如果在邮件结尾说“谢谢”或“非常感谢”比较合适的话，我通常也会那样做。

Pippa皮帕Yes. Or you could say Thank you in advance. If you've asked for a favour in the email you can end by saying Thanks in advance just to remind them that you are asking for something. Or if you're just sending a note round to remind someone of something Thanks can be useful as well. Sort of, thanks for reading.可以。或者也可以提前说声“谢谢”。如果在邮件中请求对方帮忙，可以在结尾处写上“提前感谢”，以此提醒对方你正在请求帮助。或者，如果你只是发消息来提醒某人某件事，那么“谢谢”一词也同样有用。可以说，算是感谢对方阅读吧。

Phil菲尔And I guess something similar is this phrase here: Looking forward to hearing from you. And it's... you're kind of suggesting that something is going to happen in the future. But it's not... It's not an impolite way of doing it. It's kind of a friendly way of saying you're expecting someone's reply and that you genuinely would like to hear from them.我觉得，这里的这句话也是类似的含义：“期待您的回复。”它其实是在暗示未来会有什么事情发生。不过这并非一种无礼的表达方式，而是一种友善的说法，表示希望得到对方的回复，并且真的很想听到他们的消息。

Pippa皮帕Yes, I love that. It's one of my favourites, actually. Looking forward to hearing from you. And I will say that often when I've sent an email to somebody to ask for something, I've not emailed them before and I would like them to reply, but I'm not sure that they will reply. So saying Looking forward to hearing from you is a really friendly way to kind of encourage them to reply. And it just kind of creates a strange expectation that they are going to come back to you on, on what you've asked for.是的，我非常喜欢那样做。那其实是我最喜欢的表达方式之一。期待您的回复。我得说，每次我给别人发邮件请求帮忙时，因为之前从未联系过他们，所以希望他们能回复，但又不确定他们是否会回信。因此，用“期待您的回复”这样的表述，是一种很友善的方式，能够鼓励他们对我的请求作出回应。同时，这也给人一种奇怪的期待感——好像他们一定会按照我的要求来回复我一样。

Pippa皮帕So, deciding how formal to be in an email is tricky. Let's listen again to what people at BBC Learning English had to say.因此，如何决定邮件的语气应有多正式是一件棘手的事。让我们再听听 BBC学习英语频道的人们的意见吧。

Voicenote clipsVoiceNote 片段If it's someone that I've never spoken to before then it's more formal, but I'd still probably say Hi rather than Dear.如果是从未交谈过的人，我会用更正式的称呼，但即便如此，我大概还是会说“嗨”而不是“亲爱的”。

More formal than informal. Although at times you might get a smiley face from me.比较正式，而非随意。不过有时我也会发个笑脸给你。

Pippa皮帕Smiley faces in emails! What do you think, Phil?邮件里还有笑脸图标！菲尔，你觉得怎么样？

Phil菲尔If I'm not scared of the other person, I'll often use a smiley face cos it's friendly and you can communicate a lot with them. But if it's a situation where you need to be a bit serious or you need to show a lot of respect to the other person, then it's probably not appropriate.如果我不怕对方，我经常会使用笑脸符号，因为那样显得友善，也能更容易与对方沟通。但如果是需要保持严肃态度、或是必须对对方表示高度尊重的场合，那么使用笑脸符号就不合适了。

Pippa皮帕Yes, definitely. I think smiley faces could be useful if lots of people in your office use them because sometimes when you just write something down people don't quite understand the tone of what you're saying. So they don't know if you're being friendly, or serious, or you're really annoyed. So a smiley face can sometimes help with that.当然可以。我觉得，如果办公室里很多人都会使用表情符号的话，那它们确实很有用。因为有时候，仅凭文字表达，别人很难理解你话中的语气——他们也就无法判断你是出于友好态度、认真态度，还是真的感到恼怒。而表情符号就能帮助解决这个问题。

But I would not use it frequently with, or at all, with people I don't know, with people who are senior in a company. Usually it's kind of about what the other person does. So a good rule is when you're replying to somebody to try and match the way that they've written their email. So if they're sending lots of smiley faces, you're probably safe to send them back. But if they're being really formal, saying Dear and Kind regards it's useful to kind of match that in your reply.但我不会经常使用它，更不会在和陌生人或公司里职位较高的人交流时使用。这其实取决于对方的行为方式。因此，一个好的原则是：回复他人时尽量模仿他们写邮件的风格。如果他们在邮件中使用了很多表情符号，那你也可以用同样的方式回复。但如果他们用词非常正式，总是以“亲爱的”或“此致”开头，那么你在回复时也最好采用类似的正式语气。

Phil菲尔Yes, so do look out for those things. Look at how other people start their emails. Look at whether they use smiley faces or not. Also think: Does it sound like someone talking? If it does, it's probably quite informal and you're not going to have any problems doing the same thing back.是的，确实需要注意这些方面。看看别人在写邮件时是如何开头的，他们是否使用了表情符号。另外还要想想：读起来有没有像是在与人对话的感觉？如果有，那说明这封邮件的风格相当非正式，你也可以用同样的方式来回复即可。

Pippa皮帕Yep, unless their email is really rude. Then you might not want to be rude back to them!没错，除非他们的邮件极其无礼，否则你也不想以同样的方式回敬他们吧！

Phil菲尔That's all we've got time for on this episode of Office English. Remember, you can find courses and activities to help with your English at work at bbclearningenglish.com这就是本期《职场英语》节目所能为您介绍的内容了。请记住，您可以在 bbclearningenglish.com网站上找到各种有助于提升工作场合英语水平的课程和练习。

Pippa皮帕Next time, we'll be talking about meetings and how to get your ideas heard at work.下次，我们将讨论会议以及如何在工作中让别人听到自己的想法。

Phil菲尔Bye for now. Or should I say, All the best?先这样吧。或者，我该说祝好吗？

Pippa皮帕Kind regards!致以诚挚的问候！

Phil菲尔Bye!再见！

本期职场英语播客主题是关于工作邮件该怎么写、语气如何拿捏。两位主持人Pippa和Phil通过自问自答，把邮件拆成开头、正文句式、结尾三部分讲。

一、核心判断：邮件比信件随意，且"看人下菜"

Everything depends on the situation — 收件人是谁、为什么写。英国职场整体越来越非正式，邮件写得越来越像短信。一个实用准则：邮件更接近"说话的方式"，而正式书信则不然。

二、开头称呼

🚩 两个细节：Dear 后面必须跟名字，不能只说 "Dear…我写信是关于"；不知道对方姓名时，直接用 Hi / Hi there 既友好又能掩盖你不知道名字这件事。

三、正文常用句式

• I am writing to enquire about… → 太正式，像信。想友善一点改用 I'm wondering if you can help me with…

• Please find attached… → 表示发文件/链接，常见但正式。给熟悉的同事可换成 here is the document / here's the report / here's the link…

• 结论：正式写法留给"代表公司"或"发给陌生人"。

四、结尾署名

五、笑脸表情（smiley face）

不怕对方、想表达善意时可以加，纯文字容易让人读不出语气（友好？严肃？生气？），表情能补上这一层。但不用于陌生人、不用于上级；需要严肃或表示高度尊重时不适用。

💡黄金法则：回复时匹配对方的风格。 对方连发笑脸，你也可以发；对方用 Dear + Kind regards，你就同样正式回敬——除非对方邮件本身很粗鲁，那就不必跟着无礼。

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