商務英語寫作指南精華篇
為了讓大家更好的準備商務英語BEC考試,小編給大家整理了商務英語寫作指南,下面小編就和大家分享,來欣賞一下吧。
1.商務英語寫作指南:介詞of大揭秘
I find that non-native English speakers tend to use the word “of” much too often. “Of” is also frequently used incorrectly instead of other prepositions.
我發(fā)現(xiàn)非英語為母語的人經(jīng)常用of這個詞,但是這個詞比起其他介詞來,也更常被誤用。
Non-native English speakers tend to write, for example, the attorney of the claimant where native speakers would write the claimant’s attorney. Although both structures are grammatically correct, phrases like the attorney of the claimant increase the “wordiness” and complexity of a sentence and make your writing more difficult to read.
非英語為母語的人喜歡這樣表達“the attorney of the claimant”(原告的律師),而英語國家人士則習慣于這樣表達“the claimant’s attorney”。雖然兩種表達在語法上都是正確的,但是用of的詞組表達則顯得語句更為累贅,使句子更加難以理解。
Here are some examples:
看下面的這些例子:
Bad Style Good Style the decision of the regulatory authority the regulatory authority’s decision the approval of the Management Board the Management Board’s approval the consent of the Meeting of Shareholders the consent of the Shareholders’ Meeting the representative of the Company the Company’s representative the total remuneration of the Contractor the Contractor’s total remuneration
Note that all these examples refer to a person or a group of people – i.e. the claimant, the regulatory authority, the Management Board, the Shareholders’ Meeting, the Company and the Contractor.
以上的例子所指代的對象都是某人或由某些人組成的組織,比如原告、管理機構(gòu)、管理局、股東大會、公司和承包人,所以可以用’s來代替of。
Now look at other examples:
再看下面這組例子:
Bad Style Good Style German law’s perspective the perspective of German law the contract’s termination the termination of the contract the claim’s rejection the rejection of the claim the contract’s annex the annex to / of the contract the judgement’s date the date of the judgement the plans’ realisation the realisation of the plans
There are no people involved in any of these examples, so it is better to use of instead of ’s.
這些例子里,都沒有涉及到任何人,所以在這里較為恰當?shù)挠梅ㄟ€是使用of來代替’s。
I should add, however, that this is a general rule, and there are exceptions to it. But if you follow this rule, it should – most of the time – make your writing easier to read.
我要特別指出的是,這是一條通用法則,當然還有特殊情況。不過,如果你學會了這條法則的話,大多數(shù)時候,你的英語寫作會更容易閱讀。
2.商務英語寫作指南:易混淆詞匯辨析
1.raise vs rise
raise和rise的辨析
When used as a verb they both have the same general meaning of "to move upwards", the main difference is that rise is an intransitive verb (it does not take an object), while raise is a transitive verb (it requires an object):
當raise和rise做動詞用時,兩者都有“抬高、提升”的意思,其區(qū)別在于rise是不及物動詞(后面不加賓語),而raise是及物動詞(后面要加賓語)。
rise (v) Something rises by itself
rise(動詞),自動升起
Example 1: The sun rises in the east.
例1:太陽從東方升起。
Example 2: Luther rose slowly from the chair.
例2:盧瑟慢慢從椅子上站起身來。
Example 3: I will rise tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. to walk the dog.
例3:我明天早上要6點起來去遛狗。
Rise is an irregular verb: rise / rose / risen
rise是一個不規(guī)則動詞,其變化形式是rise/rose/risen。
raise (v) Something else is needed to raise something.
Raise(動詞),把某物舉起
Example 1: Linda raised her hand.
例1:琳達舉起了手。
Example 2: The government is going to raise taxes.
例2:政府要加稅。
Example 3: He raised himself into a sitting position.
例3:他起身坐了起來。
Raise is a regular verb: raise / raised / raised
raise是規(guī)則動詞,其變化形式是raise/raised/raised。
2.Assume vs know vs think
assume、know和think的辨析
To assume is a regular verb that means to suppose something to be the true, but without proof.
Assume是一個規(guī)則動詞,意思是假設某事是真的,但并沒有真憑實據(jù)。
Example: I assume you’re here to learn English.
例句:我假設你來這里是來學英語的。
To know is an irregular verb that means to be absolutely certain or sure about something, usually through observation, inquiry, or information.
Know是一個不規(guī)則動詞,意思是完全確信、肯定某事,通常是通過觀察、詢問或各種信息得出的結(jié)果。
Example: I know I should practise English every day, but I never seem to have the time.
例句:我知道我應該每天練習英語,但我似乎從來都找不到時間來這么做。
To think is an irregular verb that means to have a particular opinion, belief, or idea about someone or something.
Think是一個不規(guī)則動詞,意思是對某人或某事有一種特別的觀點、信念或想法。
Example: I think English is a global language.
例句:我認為英語是一種全球通用語。
Note - If you need to remember which one to use, memorise this sentence: Why do some people assume they know what other people think about something?
提示:如果你想記住這三個詞的區(qū)別的話,記住下面這個例句就行了:為什么有些人自認為他們知道別人在想些什么?
3.overtake vs takeover (take over)
overtake、takeover和take over的辨析
Overtake is a verb. It can mean to go beyond something by being better, or if you’re driving to come from behind another vehicle or a person and move in front of it.
Overtake是一個動詞,意思是通過變得更好從而超過某物,或者指開車時的超車,也可以指趕上某人,來到某人的前面。
Example: You should always check your rear view mirror before you overtake another car.
例句:在你超車前,你應該要查看一下后視鏡。
Takeover as a noun is used when one organisation gains control of a company by buying most of its shares.
Takover是一個名詞,用來指某個機構(gòu)通過購買另一個公司的大部分股份從而掌管了該公司。
Example: In September 2006 Merck announced their takeover of Serono SA.
例句:2006年9月,Merck公司宣布收購Serono SA。
Take over as a phrasal verb means to get control of a company by buying most of its shares.
Take over是一個動詞詞組,意思也是通過購買某一個公司的大部分股份從而掌管了該公司,即收購。
Example: Merck finally took Serono over in 2007.
例句:Merck公司于2007年最終收購了Serono公司。
3.商務英語寫作指南:能把人繞暈的account
The word “account” can mean a variety of things, depending on the context in which it is used. It also has many idiomatic uses. As a result, if not used with great care, the word can cause ambiguity and make sentences difficult to understand.
根據(jù)不同的語境,account這個詞可以有很多不同的解釋,也有很多約定俗成的固定用法。因此,如果在使用account這個詞時未加注意,那么就有可能造成歧義和理解上的困難。
Consider the following sentence (it’s an exaggeration, but I have often seen similar):
來看一下下面這個例句(雖然這是個極端的情況,但我確實經(jīng)??吹筋愃频木渥?:
On account of a payment made on account of the service charges on the Lessor’s account, no further payments on this account are necessary.
由于與服務相關(guān)的賬目費用已經(jīng)匯入Lessor的銀行賬戶,因此沒有必要再付任何費用了。
The word “account” appears four times, and has three different meanings. This makes the sentence thoroughly confusing for a reader, and so some serious editing is necessary.
在這句話中,account這個詞出現(xiàn)了四次,包含了三種不同的含義。這就讓讀者很難理解這句話想表達的意思,因此需要做出一些必要的修改。
First of all let’s look at each phrase in turn: (1) On account of a payment made (2) on account of the service charges (3) on the Lessor’s account, no further payments (4) on this account are necessary.
首先讓我們來看一下每個用到account的詞組搭配:(1) On account of a payment made (2) on account of the service charges (3) on the Lessor’s account, no further payments (4) on this account are necessary.
(1) The first phrase, on account of means literally “by reason of”. The writer could also use “due to”, “as a result of”, or “because of”.
(1)第一個詞組“On account of”就是“由于、因為”的意思。作者也可以用“due to”,“as a result of”或者“because of”等來表示。
(2) The second use of on account of is ambiguous because it does not mean “by reason of”. Rather it means “on the service charge account”, i.e. the record of credits related to the service charges.
(2)第二個詞組中的“on account of”就有些歧義,在這里它并不表示“由于、因為”的意思,更傾向于表示“服務費賬目”,即與服務費相關(guān)的信用記錄。
(3) The phrase on the Lessor’s account contains an error that I frequently see. It is a serious mistake because it changes the meaning of the sentence. What the writer means is “into the Lessor’s (bank) account”. However, the phrase “on someone’s account” is idiomatic and means “on someone’s behalf”. But this payment was not made on the Lessor’s behalf, rather it was made into his bank account!
(3)第三個詞組中的“on the Lessor’s account”出現(xiàn)了一個我經(jīng)??吹降腻e誤。這是一個嚴重的問題,因為它改變了整句話的意思。作者想要表達的意思應該是“匯入Lessor的銀行賬戶”。但是“on someone’s account”是有固定用法的,相當于“on someone’s behalf”(代表某人)。但這個詞組的意思并不是“代表Lessor的賬戶”,而是把錢匯入Lessor的賬戶!
Remember that in English payments are made “into or to a bank account” and NOT “on a bank account”.
記住,在英語中,付款是“匯入(into或者to)某人的賬戶”,而不是“在(on)某人的賬戶上”。
(4) The last phrase – on this account – has three possible meanings. It contains the same ambiguity as the second use of on account of: Does the writer mean “for this reason”, or is he referring to the record of credits related to the services charges? The third possible meaning is “into a bank account”. Although this phrase is very ambiguous, it does not actually cause a problem here because the sentence ultimately means the same thing whichever way you understand this phrase.
最后一個詞組“on this account”有三種不同的含義。首先,和第二個詞組on account of一樣,on this account到底是表示“由于(for this reason)”的意思,還是表示“與服務費相關(guān)的賬目”的意思?以上就包含了兩個不同的意思。第三種意思是“匯入銀行賬戶(into a bank account)”。雖然這個詞組很有歧義,不過在前后文中它的意思還是很明確的,不管你怎么理解這個詞組,它所表達的意思都是一樣的。
But I think you’ll agree that it is not very satisfactory to write something that can be interpreted in three different ways.
但是,我想如果一個詞組可以有三種解釋,你也不會對這種用法感到滿意吧。
商務英語寫作指南精華篇




