Writing "Thank You" letters and emails

书写感谢信和感谢邮件

It's polite to write a "thank you" letter each time you receive a present. You can also write emails to thank people, but it's still considered more "personal" to write a short letter by hand.

每次收到礼物后写一封感谢信发送出去是很礼貌的。你也可以写邮件来感谢对方，但是亲手写一封简短的感谢信会更礼貌。

Layout and format

文章布局和格式

"Thank you" letters can be quite short, and fill one or two sides of A5 paper (one side of A5 paper is half the size of a sheet of A4 or office paper). You can write your address in the top left hand corner of the paper, but you don't need to write the recipient's address. You can also write the date under your address.

感谢信可以很短，一面或者两面A5纸就行（一面A5纸是一般A4办公用纸的一半）。你可以在纸张的左上角方向写下你的地址，但是不需要写收信人的地址。你也可以在你的地址下面写上日期。

You normally start the letter "Dear…" followed by the name of the person you are writing to.

通常信件的开头“亲爱的…”放在你要写信的对方的称呼前面。

In the first paragraph (which can be short), you should thank the person for the gift and say something complimentary about it:

在段（可以很短），你应该感谢送礼物的人，再说一些赞美的话：

"Thank you for the book tokens. I'm looking forward to choosing a book with them."

“非常感谢这些书券，我正好在找这些东西。”

"Thank you for the wall calendar. It will be very useful to me this year!"

“非常感谢您送的挂历。今年对我很有用！”

"Thank you very much for the beautiful soaps. I'm looking forward to relaxing in a hot bath!"

“非常感谢这些好看的肥皂。期待洗澡享受它！”

"Thank you very much for the lovely photo frame. It will look very nice on my chest of drawers."

“非常感谢这个可爱的相框。放抽屉柜上一定很美。”

"Thank you very much for the elegant scarf you sent me. It's exactly what I need for special occasions."

“非常感谢您送给我的这条优美的围巾。这正好在特殊场合使用上。”

In the second paragraph, you can give general news about how you spent the holiday period (or how you spent your birthday if you have received a birthday present). You could also show interest in the other person's holiday.

在第二段，你可以写写自己是如何度过假期的，（或者如果你收到生日礼物了，你是怎么过生日的）。你也可以表现出对他人如何度假感兴趣。

"We had a very quiet and relaxing Christmas at home. The kids ate too many chocolates as usual, so now we're all on a diet! I hope your Christmas was as good, and that you were able to relax for a few days."

“我们在家庆祝圣诞节，安静又美好。孩子们像平时一样吃了很多巧克力，所以现在我们都在节食！希望你们的圣诞节也一样愉快，你能好好的放松几天。”

In the third paragraph you can talk about more general family or personal news.

在第三段，你可以谈论一些家庭或个人消息。

In the final paragraph, you should thank the person again for their gift, and give your wishes for the New Year if applicable. (See below for useful phrases for ending the letter.)

在最后一段，你应该再次感谢送礼物的人，送出你对新年的祝福。（看下面可以用在信件结尾的一些有用的词组）

Useful phrases

有用的词组

You should start your letter with "Dear" and follow it by the person's first name:

信件开头你应该用“亲爱的”，然后在后面加上收信人的名：

"Dear Tom" or "Dear Uncle Bill"

“亲爱的汤姆”或“亲爱的比尔叔叔”

You can end your letter with any of these phrases:

在信件的结尾可以用下面的这些词组：

"With love (from)", "With much love (from)", "Lots of love (from)" or "Love (from)" followed by your name on the next line. The "from" in these phrases is optional.

在名字的下面一行写上“来自于爱你的…”，断句里的“来自”都是可选的。

You normally end the letter with repeated thanks and wishes for the New Year:

通常在信件的结尾，要再次感谢和祝福新年快乐。

"Thank you again for my present."

“再次感谢您的礼物。”

"Thank you again for such a thoughtful gift."

“再次感谢您悉心准备的礼物。”

"Wishing you a happy New Year."

“祝您新年快乐。”

"With all my best wishes for a happy New Year."

“衷心祝愿新年快乐。”

"Wishing you all the best in 2015."

“祝您2015年一切都顺。”

An example thank you letter

感谢信样板

7, London Rd

伦敦7路

Manchester

曼彻斯特

31 December, 2014

2014年12月31号

Dear Uncle Bill

亲爱的比尔叔叔

Thank you very much for the French cookery book you gave me. The recipes look wonderful, and I'll certainly enjoy using it.

非常感谢您送给我的法式烹饪书。这本烹饪书太棒了，我非常喜欢用它。

I hope you and Auntie Susan had a good Christmas. We stayed at home, but had a couple of day trips out nearby. Our local theatre put on a production of "A Christmas Carol", which was fun.

祝您和阿姨苏珊圣诞快乐。我们在家里，但是在周边旅游了几天。我们当地剧院上映了“圣诞卡罗尔”这部片子，很好玩。

I go back to University next week, and this year I'm going to have to study hard for the final exams. I've really enjoyed the course so far, but I'm not sure what to do once I get my degree. The University arranges career interviews, but I don't really have a clear idea of what I want to do. Hopefully it will all become clearer during the course of the year.

我下周要返回学校了，今年我很努力的学习为期末考试做准备。目前我非常喜欢我的课程，但是不确定一旦拿到学位后该做什么。学校安排了职业面试，但是我真的没有一个清楚的想法，关于我想做什么。希望在课程期间，我的想法能越来越清晰。

Thank you again for the lovely present, and Happy New Year!

再次感谢您送的礼物，新年快乐！

With much love

爱您

Anna

安娜