（四） 運(yùn)用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)氣 　　
有時(shí)，運(yùn)用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)氣，比主動(dòng)語(yǔ)氣客氣，如： a) You made a very careless mistake. 　 A very careless mistake was made b) You did not enclose the check with your order. 　 The check was not enclosed with your order. c) For the past two years, you did not give us any order. 　 For the past two years, no order has been given us. Or: 　 For the past two years, no business has been materialized between us.

（五） 避免（或力爭(zhēng)避免）使用語(yǔ)氣強(qiáng)烈或容易引起不快的詞匯
a) we demand immediate payment from you 　　demand的意思是ask for(sth) as if ordering, or as if one has a right to, 即帶有命令意味的要求。非不得已，應(yīng)盡可能避免使用demand而改用request　如： We request your immediate payment.
b) We are disgusted with your manner of doing business. 　 disgust意味hate而且有strong feeling of dislike or distasted, 既"厭惡"的意思，　因此，還是婉轉(zhuǎn)或含蓄一些為宜，如： 　 We are not completely satisfied with your manner of doing business.
c) We must refuse your offer. 　 Must………帶有威脅性的意味（minatory tone），不如改為： We regret that we are unable to accept your offer. Or: We regret that we are not in a position to accept your offer.
d) We want you to assist us 　 帶有傲慢或長(zhǎng)者的口吻（superior tone），不如改為： Your assistance would be appreciated.

（六） 使用高興，遺憾，感謝等詞匯及表達(dá)法
(1) We have pleasure of -ing……. We have pleasure in -ing……. It is with pleasure that we do so It gives us(great, much) pleasure to do so We are pleased for us to do so It＇s a pleasure for us to do so. We are glad(or: delighted) that you do so We shall gladly do so We shall feel happy if you will do so We are happy to do so

(2) 表示感謝的表達(dá)法有： We are (very, most) appreciative of your doing so We are gratified to learn that you do so We shall be (or: feel) obliged by your doing so We shall be obliged if you will do so You will oblige us by doing so We shall be grateful to you if you will do so We shall appreciate your doing so We shall appreciate it if you will do so We shall thank you to do so It will be appreciated if……. We are thankful that you do so

(3) 表示遺憾的表達(dá)法有： It is a matter for regret that we cannot do so It is with regret that we must do so We express our regret at -ing….. To our regret we cannot do so It is regrettable that we must do so We regret that we cannot do so We regret to do so It is to be regretted that you do so We are regretful that we must do so It is a pity that you cannot do so We are sorry we cannot do so We are sorry to do so 注：以上的表達(dá)法只是常用的一部分。 　

寫信要做到courtesy，但要注意 ：
（1） 不要使用已經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)的毫無(wú)意義的老套子，如： our esteemed clients; your esteemed letter; your respectable house; your good self(or good selves); your valued order; your esteemed reply等等

（2） 要分清"禮貌"與"卑恭"的界限，如： (a) We are extremely and sincerely sorry for the error and ask that you accept our humble and sincere apology for the undue inconvenience suffered by you. b) We beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 11th December. b) We beg to enclose herewith our invoice. 　　

這三例不是"禮貌"，而是"卑恭"。寫商業(yè)書(shū)信既不要盛氣凌人，也沒(méi)有必要低三下四，更應(yīng)該注意在商業(yè)信中把we beg一類的表達(dá)法完全去掉。 　　

以上三例可考慮改為：
a) We are concerned about the inconvenience you have suffered, and apologize sincerely.
b) We have received your letter on Dec.
c) we enclose (herewith) our Invoice. Or: We are pleased to enclose our Invoice