Writing a Formal Letter or Email
IGCSE English Topic 4 8:04 English narration · English + 中文 subtitles burned in
Chapters
Transcript
A student finds that the new bus timetable makes her late for school every morning.
一位同学发现新的公交时刻表让她每天早上上学迟到，于是决定写信给公交公司。
She decides to write to the bus company.
她的第一稿是：太糟糕了！
Her first draft says: <slow>This is terrible!
你们改了时间，现在大家都迟到。
You changed the times and now everyone is late.
快改回来！
Fix it!</slow> Her second draft says: I am writing about the new timetable for route twelve.
她的第二稿是：我写信是关于十二路的新时刻表。
Since the change, the bus reaches our school ten minutes after lessons begin.
改点之后， 公交车到达学校的时间比上课晚十分钟。
I would be grateful if you could consider an earlier service.
如果贵公司能考虑增加一班更早的车，我将不胜感激。
The same complaint, the same facts — but only one of them gets read, and only one of them scores.
同样的投诉，同样的事实——但只有一封会被认真读，也只有一封能得分。
A formal letter or email.
正式信件或电子邮件。
You write it to someone you do not know — a manager, a head teacher, a newspaper, an organiser.
收信人是你并不认识的人——经理、校长、报社、活动组织者。
There is a fixed shape, a fixed pair of phrases at the top and the bottom, and a tone you must hold in every single line.
它有固定的结构，开头和结尾有固定成对的用语，还有一种必须贯穿每一行的语气。
All of it can be learnt, and all of it is worth marks.
这些全都可以学会，而且每一样都值分。
First, spot the task.
第一步，判断题型。
It tells you the format, the purpose and the reader — use all three.
题目会告诉你格式、目的和读者——三样都要用上。
There are two clues, and both are in the question itself.
有两条线索，都藏在题目里。 线索一是读者。
Clue one is the reader. A friend or a cousin means write informally. A manager, a head teacher, a newspaper, or an organiser you have never met means write formally.
朋友或表亲，就写非正式； 经理、校长、报社，或者你从未见过的活动组织者，就写正式。
Clue two is the verb the task gives you.
线索二是题目给你的动词。
Apply, request, complain, suggest and enquire are formal jobs. Tell your friend, or chat about, are not.
申请、请求、投诉、建议、询问，都是正式的任务； "告诉你的朋友"或"聊一聊"就不是。
Decide this before you write a single word, because the register you choose then runs through every sentence that follows.
在动笔之前就把这一点定下来，因为你选定的语域会贯穿之后的每一个句子。
There is also a middle setting, and the exam uses it often: semi-formal.
还有一个中间档位，考试里经常用到：半正式。
You use it for someone you know, but not well — your own teacher, a club leader, the family you are staying with.
它用于你认识、但不太熟的人——你自己的老师、社团负责人、你寄宿的家庭。
It keeps the polite structure and the full forms, but it allows a warmer opening and a real name: Dear Mrs Lee, rather than Dear Sir or Madam. And here is the safe rule.
它保留礼貌的结构和不缩写的形式，但允许更亲切的开头和真实的姓名： 用 Dear Mrs Lee，而不是 Dear Sir or Madam。
When you are not sure which one the task wants, go one step more formal than you think you need.
还有一条稳妥的原则：拿不准题目要哪一种时，就比你以为需要的再正式一档。
A letter that is slightly too polite loses nothing; one that is too casual loses the tone marks straight away.
稍微过于礼貌的信不会丢任何分；过于随便的信，语气分立刻就没了。
Now the rule the examiner checks first, every single time — and it takes ten seconds to learn.
接下来是考官每次都最先检查的规则——而学会它只要十秒钟。
If you open with a name, Dear Mr Lee, then you close with Yours sincerely.
如果你用姓名开头，Dear Mr Lee，那就用 Yours sincerely 结尾。
If you do not know the name, you open Dear Sir or Madam, and you close Yours faithfully.
如果你不知道姓名，就用 Dear Sir or Madam 开头，用 Yours faithfully 结尾。
A name goes with sincerely. Sir or Madam goes with faithfully.
有姓名配 sincerely，Sir or Madam 配 faithfully。
Mix them, and you have told the examiner you did not learn the rule — in the first line and the last line of your answer, where it is impossible to miss.
一旦配错，你就等于告诉考官你没学过这条规则—— 而且是在答案的第一行和最后一行，想漏看都不可能。
Between those two lines, the body has three jobs, in this order.
在这两行之间，正文有三项任务，顺序固定。
The first paragraph says why you are writing, and nothing else. One sentence is enough.
第一段说明你为什么写信，别的都不写，一句话就够。
The middle paragraphs carry your points — one point in each, every one with a reason or an example, exactly as in the informal email.
中间几段承载你的观点——每段一个观点，每个都配上原因或例子， 和非正式邮件里完全一样。
The last paragraph says what you would like to happen next.
最后一段说明你希望接下来发生什么。
Not a summary: an action. Three parts, three jobs.
不是总结，而是一个行动。
If you cannot say which job a paragraph is doing, that paragraph does not belong in the letter.
三个部分，三项任务。 如果你说不出某一段在做哪项任务，那它就不该出现在信里。
That first line deserves its own minute, because it does more work than any other sentence in the letter.
第一行值得你单独花一分钟，因为它比信里任何一句话都更管用。
A weak opening wanders: Hello, I hope you are well, I am a student at a school in this town and I wanted to say something.
差的开头东拉西扯：你好，希望你一切都好，我是本地一所学校的学生，我想说点事情。
Twenty-two words, and the reader still does not know why you wrote.
二十二个词过去了，读者还是不知道你为什么写信。
A strong opening names the purpose immediately: I am writing to apply for the summer volunteer programme.
好的开头立刻说明目的：我写信是为了申请暑期志愿者项目。
Ten words — purpose delivered, tone set, in one line.
十个词——目的送达，语气定调，只用一行。
Learn three of these openings by heart, and one of them will fit almost any task the exam gives you.
把三种这样的开头背下来，几乎任何题目都能套上其中一种。
Most students already know the formal words. They simply forget to reach for them under pressure.
大多数同学其实已经会那些正式的说法，只是在紧张时想不起来用。
So practise the flip until it is automatic.
所以要把这个"翻转"练到自动。
I'm writing becomes I am writing to.
I'm writing 变成 I am writing to。
Thanks a lot becomes I would be grateful if.
Thanks a lot 变成 I would be grateful if。
Guess what becomes I would like to inform you.
Guess what 变成 I would like to inform you。
Can you becomes Would you be able to.
Can you 变成 Would you be able to。
And I want becomes I would like.
I want 变成 I would like。
Notice the pattern in all of them: formal English is a little longer, a little softer, and it asks rather than tells.
注意它们共同的规律：正式英语稍微长一点、软一点，而且是在请求，不是在命令。
Two things must simply never appear.
有两样东西绝对不能出现。
First, short forms.
第一，缩写形式。
Write I am, do not, cannot, it is.
要写 I am、do not、cannot、it is。
In the informal email these earned you marks; here they cost you marks, and they are the easiest thing in the world to spot when you check.
在非正式邮件里它们能得分，在这里却会扣分， 而且检查时它们是全世界最容易被发现的东西。
Second, anything that belongs in a conversation: slang, jokes, exclamation marks, and emojis.
第二，任何属于日常对话的东西：俚语、玩笑、感叹号、表情符号。
A formal letter can be warm, but it is never chatty.
正式信件可以温和，但绝不能像闲聊。
So make one pass and delete every apostrophe that shortens a word.
所以专门检查一遍，删掉每一个用来缩写的撇号。
That single pass fixes most of the problem.
单这一遍就能解决大部分问题。
Many formal tasks are complaints, and this is exactly where tone marks are won and lost.
很多正式题目是投诉，而语气分正是在这里得失。
Angry writing sounds like this: This is terrible.
生气的写法是这样的：太糟糕了。
Your staff were rude.
你们的员工很无礼。
I want my money back now.
我现在就要退款。
Polite writing carries the very same facts: I was disappointed to find… Unfortunately, the staff were unable to help… I would be grateful if you could refund the ticket.
礼貌的写法承载完全相同的事实：我很失望地发现……很遗憾，工作人员未能提供帮助…… 如果您能为这张票退款，我将不胜感激。
Say what went wrong, then say how it affected you, and only then ask for something.
先说出了什么问题，再说它对你造成了什么影响，最后才提出请求。
Never accuse, and never shout.
不要指责，也不要嚷嚷。
The polite version scores higher — and in real life it is also the one that gets what it asks for.
礼貌的版本分数更高—— 而且在现实中，它也是真正能拿到结果的那一封。
Then end by naming the action.
最后要以说明具体行动来收尾。
This is the paragraph students throw away.
这一段恰恰是同学们白白浪费掉的。
A weak ending stops: Thank you for reading my letter.
差的结尾只是停下来：谢谢您读我的信。
That closes the letter politely, but it asks for nothing at all.
这样收尾虽然礼貌，却什么也没请求。
A strong ending says exactly what you hope will happen: I would be grateful if you could consider opening the library until seven.
好的结尾清楚说明你希望发生什么：如果贵方能考虑把图书馆开放到七点，我将不胜感激。
I look forward to hearing from you.
期待您的回复。
Name the action, then thank them, then sign off.
先说明行动，再表示感谢，最后署名。
The reader should reach the bottom of your letter knowing precisely what you want them to do.
读者读到信的末尾时，应该确切地知道你希望他们做什么。
Here is a model, and every rule we have covered sits inside it.
这是一篇范文，我们讲过的每一条规则都在里面。
The opening pair: Dear Sir or Madam — so the sign-off has to be Yours faithfully.
开头这一对：Dear Sir or Madam——所以落款必须是 Yours faithfully。
The first line states the purpose: I am writing to suggest an improvement to the town library.
第一行说明目的：我写信是想为镇图书馆提一个改进建议。
The middle gives the point with its reason: at present it closes at five o'clock, which is too early for students who finish school at four.
中间给出观点和理由：目前它五点就闭馆，对四点放学的学生来说太早了。
And the ending names the action: I would be grateful if the council could consider opening it until seven in the evening.
结尾说明行动：如果议会能考虑把开放时间延长到晚上七点，我将不胜感激。
No short forms anywhere, and every sentence complete.
全文没有任何缩写，每个句子都完整。
Two minutes, four checks — and the first two belong to this task alone.
两分钟，四项检查——其中前两项是这道题专属的。
One: does the greeting match the sign-off?
第一：称呼和落款配对了吗？
Read the top line and the bottom line together, as a pair.
把第一行和最后一行放在一起读。 第二：搜寻撇号。
Two: hunt for apostrophes. Every I'm and every don't has to go.
每一个 I'm、每一个 don't 都得改掉。
Three: does the first paragraph say why, and does the last one say what you want to happen?
第三：第一段说明了"为什么"吗？ 最后一段说明了你希望发生什么吗？
Four: your usual grammar errors — verb endings, tenses, and the small words a, an and the.
第四：你常犯的语法错误——动词词尾、时态，以及 a、an、the 这些小词。
Three habits to carry into the exam.
带三个习惯进考场。
First, write the sign-off the moment you write the greeting, so the pair can never drift apart while you are busy writing.
第一，写下称呼的同时就把落款写上， 这样在你埋头写正文时，这一对永远不会走散。
Second, state your purpose in the first line — it is the fastest way there is to sound formal.
第二，在第一行就说明目的——这是让文章显得正式最快的办法。
Third, stay polite even when the task is designed to make you angry: I was disappointed to find earns the marks that This is terrible throws away.
第三，即使题目故意让你生气，也要保持礼貌： "我很失望地发现"能拿到的分，"太糟糕了"会白白丢掉。
Get those three right, and the formal letter becomes one of the most predictable tasks on the whole paper.
做到这三点，正式信件就会成为整张卷子上最可预测的题目之一。