1. Wrong HELP! 2. Right Excuse me, Sir, I’m terribly sorry to

bother you, but I wonder if you would mind helping me a moment, as long as it’s no trouble, of course

EXERCISE

Sort the following list of 20 words and expressions into formal and informal and match each formal expression with an informal equivalent (there are 10 of each).

A great deal I suggest we start Create problems Let´s get started What’s her name Get Tons Damn well Reach Object

You know John, don’t you?

Give someone a hard time

Why don’t you…? I don’t remember her

name I believe you Know

John Receive Would you like? Whatsit Definitely Get to

Americans tend to be relatively informal in business while the British are usually more formal, especially older people and in more traditional businesses.

Here are few characteristic moderately informal phrases and expressions commonly used in memos and e-mails, with their moderately formal equivalents. Match them.

Would you like to Arrive / reach A great deal of I’ve just received Best wishes Great to hear your

news. Love So long! Tons / loads of…

Return It was very pleasant to

hear from you Dear John Goodbye for now Hi John! Get back Get to Why not…? I’ve just got

Politeness in requests can be marked in a variety of ways in English, not only with the word "please".

Asking other people to do things is known as making a request.

Requests take many different forms and may be polite or not very polite (rude).

ACTIVITY: look at the list of requests. They need to sort the request forms into two categories: Polite and Not Very Polite (there will be some differences in opinion). Sort these request forms into the two categories:

 

Won't you sit down? Could you sit down? Can't you sit down? Sit down, why don't

you! Would you like to sit

down? Please sit down. May I ask you to sit

down? Will you sit down? Would you sit down,

please?

Please! (gesture towards the chair to indicate sitting down)

I'd like you to sit down.

Sit down. Sit down, will you. Sit down would you. Would you mind

sitting down? I was wondering if

you would like to sit down.

Could I get you to sit down?

In English there are many ways we show politeness and respect and, despite what people think, the use of sir and ma'am is not an important one.

In Britain it is unusual for someone in the street to say

Excuse me, sir - can you tell me the way to the station?

The people who use the word sir in this way are usually expecting some money for a service - a taxi driver or a waiter, for example:

That will be £12, sir. Thank you!

The word please is used with almost every request in Britain.

Many visitors don't realise that, when they go into a cafe and say A coffee or I want a coffee or even Can I have a coffee? (which might be perfectly all right in their own language) they appear to be impolite, and cannot understand it when the person serving spills the coffee all over them!

Just adding a simple please would make an immediate difference and possibly even merit a smile - A coffee, please. Or I would like a coffee, please.

Let's look at polite ways of asking questions and favours of people:

Instead of a direct question we often use Can you and Could you before we say what we want. Look at these examples, which are from a normal conversation at home between husband and wife:

Can you carry this bag into the house please?

Could you move the table against the wall, please?

Could is a little more polite than Can but both questions contain the word please.

Carry this bag into the house or Move the table up against the wall are possible, but English speakers would

know when they could make requests in this way without causing offence, and the correct intonation is important.

Use Can and Could to introduce a request is wise. It's courteous and makes a good impression.

In fact, you can be even more polite: Sorry - could you tell me the way to

Oxford Street, please? Sorry - could you tell me your name

again, please? It's very common to start a request with

the word sorry. What it really means is I'm sorry to give

you a problem but we use it very often in everyday

situations and it is polite and courteous.

If you need a special favour, try I'm sorry to bother you but could

you possibly help me, please? You might say to a friend Hey John - lend me £100, will

you? but you couldn't say this to

somebody you do not know well.

If you're sitting in a restaurant and you need another chair then you would go to another table and ask

Sorry - could I take this chair, please? And here's another way of saying it - a

little more difficult, but equally polite: Sorry, would you mind if I took this

chair, please? Or Would it be all right if I took this chair,

please?

This is a common way of asking politely for something. But you have to start with Would and then put the other verb in the Past.

Now look at the answer to the request Sorry - Would you mind if I closed

the window, please? No - that's fine.

Why do we say No? Because would you mind means is it a problem?, and the answer is no!

Other answers to "would you mind...." are:

"Would you mind if I closed the window?" "No, that's perfectly OK."

"Would you mind if I took this chair, please?" "Go ahead!" "That's ok."

Most non-native speakers of English, when entering their English Class late, automatically say "Excuse me" when in fact they should say "Sorry".

But first let us examine the phrase "excuse me".

We use this not to apologise but to ask permission to do something - for example, when arriving late for the theatre and asking permission to move along the row of seats to our own seat.

In this particular situation we might also say "sorry" as we pass along the row causing people to have to stand up or move their legs. So you might hear someone saying "Excuse me, please" asking permission to pass, and the "Sorry!" after the other person has had to move!

In fact, while people in most countries are usually polite to people they do know, and are not so polite to those they do not know, in Britain it's the opposite: we treat strangers with politeness, yet acquaintances and friends with the very minimum of courtesy!

Business people often have to answer questions. You may have to respond to questions during a meeting or negotiation or after you have given a presentation. There are several possible responses to such questions. You can:

1. answer directly ("Yes", "No", "I'm..", etc); 2. ask for clarification of the question; 3. reassure the questioner; 4. give yourself time to think; 5. avoid answering. The language you use becomes very important. It can

provide you with certain helpful tactics to use in various situations. Look at these useful phrases:

Would you mind rephrasing the question? I didn't quite understand it.

Have I understood you correctly?

If I understand you you're asking...

When you say...do you mean...?

I'm sorry, I'm not sure about ... Could you tell me what it means?

What exactly do you mean by ... ?

Could you clarify ... for me?

I don't think I've understood all that. What exactly is ... ?

Would you mind defining ... a little more precisely?

Can / could you possibly give me an explanation of ... ?

Can / could you explain what ... is?

When you say ... , do you mean ... ?

I think I've understood, but could / would you give me an example of ... ?

Am I right in thinking ... means ... ?

I'd like to reassure you about that

There is no need for concern on that point

You need have no worries on that front

I can understand your concern but...

I'm glad you asked that question

That's a veryinteresting question

I'm afraid I can't give you an answer to that question at the moment

I'd prefer not to comment on that for the moment

Perhaps I could answer that question later

Well, that would depend on various factors

Most people connect the word style with fashion, particularly with clothes.

In a sense, language too is either "dressed up" or "dressed down", depending on the situation you are in or who you are talking to.

Style covers a variety of subjects but two aspects of style which are vitally important in business communication are formality and diplomacy.

Another aspect of formality which is important in report writing is the use of the passive voice.

If you were giving advice in spoken English, for example, you would probably use an "active" sentence, such as "if I were you, I'd relocate the factory."

This type of sentence would not be used in a business letter or report. The sentence would probably read: "It is recommended that the factory be relocated."

In formal written English, it is also often preferable to avoid using personal pronouns, such as I or we, in order to make the text more impersonal.

English is different from many other languages in that its spoken form differs considerably from its written form. Naturally, written English tends to be more formal.

Spoken English contains a great many contractions such as "it's", meaning "it is" or "it has", "I've", meaning "I have", "he's", meaning "he is" or "he has", "we'd", meaning "we would" or "we had". These contractions, used widely in conversation, are not used in written English (except, perhaps, in informal friendly letters). They would not be used in a formal letter or report.

Another aspect of formality which is important in report writing is the use of the passive voice.

If you were giving advice in spoken English, for example, you would probably use an "active" sentence, such as "if I were you, I'd relocate the factory." This type of sentence would not be used in a business letter or report.

The sentence would probably read: "It is recommended that the factory be relocated.”

In addition to formal written style, English also

has a unique diplomatic spoken style. Native speakers often try not to sound too direct.

Examples of this tactful style include using I'd like instead of I want, e.g. "I'd like to hear your proposals", rather than "I want to hear your proposals...". Another example is "Perhaps we should now consider..." rather than "Now, it's time to consider...".

Thank you very much for your attention!