欧美人文风情第332篇:如何让你的英文变得委婉?

 Hi, Sian here for BBC Learning English. In this Masterclass, we're going to look at something British people love doing: being polite. 嗨，我是 BBC 学英文的 Sian。在这次的高级英文班中，我们要来看一件英国人很爱做的事：有礼貌。

"No, I'm not coming to your party this evening." 「不，我今晚不会去参加你的派对。」

"Wow, this food is disgusting!" "Give me some of your lunch." 「哇，这食物有够恶心!」「分我一点你的午餐。」

Now, sometimes it's okay to be direct or even blunt¹ with your friends, but it's important not to sound rude, particularly in the workplace. 现在，朋友之间有时讲话直接或甚至有点不经大脑是没关系的，但很重要的是不要听起来粗鲁无礼，特别是在职场上。

We're gonna look at four ways you can soften² your language to make you more polite. 我们要来看四种能让语言变委婉且听起来更有礼貌的方法。

Okay, listen to these two requests—which one sounds more polite and less direct, and why? 好，听听这两项请求－－哪一个听起来比较有礼且不那么直接，为什么呢？

Number one: "Pick me up on your way to the party this evening." Or number two: "I was hoping you could give me a lift to the party." 第一个：「你今晚要去派对的时候顺便来接我。」还是第二个：「希望你可以顺道载我去派对一下。」

Now, number two is much more polite. 第二个有礼貌多了。

We soften requests and suggestions and questions by using past forms, continuous forms, or both. 我们会用过去式、进行式，或两种同时使用来软化请求和提议及疑问的语气。

For example, "I was wondering if you could give me a lift later." 举例来说，「我在想你等会是不是能载我一程。」

We can also make requests softer by using a negative question with a question tag. 我们也可以利用含附加问句的否定问句来让请求听起来更婉转。

So, "You couldn't give me a lift later, could you?" or "I don't suppose you could pick me up tonight, could you?" 那么，「你等会没办法载我，对吧？」或是「我想你今晚是没办法载我了，对吧？」

Okay, listen to these two opinions—which do you think sounds less direct and more polite? 好，听听这两种意见－－你觉得哪个听起来比较委婉而且更有礼貌呢？

Number one: "You're too young to get married." Or number two: "I reckon³ you're a little young to be getting married." 第一个：「你还太年轻，不适合结婚啦。」还是第二个：「我觉得你要结婚还有点太年轻。」

Yeah, the second one is much less direct. It's softer. 没错，第二个婉转许多。语气比较温和点。

We use verbs like "reckon," "guess," "feel" to make your opinions less direct. 我们会用像 reckon(觉得)、guess(猜想)、feel(感觉)这些动词来让自己的意见不那么直接。

You can also use vague expressions like "sort of," "kind of," "a little bit." 你也可以运用一些模稜两可的说法，象是 sort of(有几分)、kind of(稍微)、a little bit(有一点)。

It also helps if you make it into a question: "Aren't you kind of young to be getting married?" 改成问句也有帮助：「你要结婚不会有点太年轻了吗？」

Okay. Now listen to these two problems—which one sounds less direct? 好。现在听听这两个问题－－哪一个听起来比较不直接？

The first one: "You've made a mistake in this report." Or the second one:"You seem to have made a mistake here." 第一个：「你这份报告有一个错误。」还是第二个：「你这里好像有个地方弄错了。」

Yes. The second one was softer, less direct. 没错。第二个比较委婉、不直接一点。

We introduce problems with verbs like "seem" and "appear" to soften them. So, "You appear to have saved over all my documents." 我们会用像 seem(好像)和 appear(似乎)这些动词来委婉点出问题。那么，「你似乎存档盖过我所有的文件了。」

You could also use these to introduce your own problems. So, "I seem to have lost those reports you wanted." 你也可以用这些来点出自己的问题。「我好像弄丢了你要的那些报告。」

Now, listen to these two ways of refusing an invitation—which one sounds less direct? 现在，听听这两种回绝邀请的方式－－哪一种听起来比较不那么直接？

Number one: "No, I'm not coming to your party this evening." 第一种：「不，我今晚不会去参加你的派对。」

Or number two: "I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to your party this evening." 还是第二种：「我不确定我今晚有没有办法去你的派对。」

Okay, again, the second one was much softer, less direct. 好，又一次，第二种回答婉转许多，也比较不直接。

We find it really hard to say no, so instead, we use tentative⁴ language to soften it. 我们觉得说不很难，因此取而代之，我们会用犹豫不决的话语来软化拒绝。

So, "I'm not sure I'll make it to your party," or "It's looking unlikely I'll be able to come this evening." 那么，「我不确定我去不去得了你的派对」或是「看来我今晚似乎不太可能能去」。

This basically means "I'm not coming." 这基本上就代表「我不会去」。

Now, to find out more about avoiding being too direct and to practice not being rude, 现在，想知道更多怎么避免太过直接的信息，并且练习不要粗鲁无礼的技巧，

I was hoping you would check out our website: bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon! Goodbye! 我希望你会去看看我们的网站：bbclearningenglish.com。下回见!掰掰!

 

1 blunt   

adj.（刀子）钝的，不锋利的，迟钝的，直率的

参考例句：

• The axe is too blunt to cut down the tree.斧头太钝，砍不倒树。
• She is rather blunt in speech.她说话很直率。

2 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

3 reckon   

vt.计算，估计，认为；vi.计（算），判断，依靠

参考例句：

• Don't reckon upon your relatives to help you out of trouble.不要指望你的亲戚会帮助你摆脱困境。
• I reckon that he is rather too old to marry again.我认为他的年龄太大，不太适于再婚。

4 tentative   

adj.试验性质的，暂时的，犹豫不决的

参考例句：

• I have some tentative suggestions.我有几点不成熟的想法。
• Please come out with your tentative ideas at the meeting.请把你的初步设想在会上讲一讲。