【商用英文】如何發表自己意見 又避免以「我」來開頭
編輯/ Zoe Li
你知道嗎?其實你可以不用「I」這個代名詞來表達「我覺得」,
這樣做其實可以讓你聽起來較客觀也較專業。
所以,這篇文章就來教大家五個有同樣效果的片語!
It seems …
如果你和別人在通話中,但通話開始斷線,你可以說:
- Sorry, but it seems that my line is breaking up.
這樣說的意思是:「就我所能判斷的來看,我的這邊的訊號(通話)斷線了。」
我們的雅思口說測驗準備的教材中,還有另一個範例:
“It seems probable” 的意思是:「就我所可判斷的來看,我覺得這很有可能會發生。」
如你所見,你可以用這樣的句型:
“It seems (that) + [sentence]” or “It seems + [adjective].”
根據一個在六個英語系國家中的線上英文語料庫,
這些是最常出現在“It seems”後面的形容詞:
- likely
- unlikely
- clear
- obvious
- reasonable
- odd
- impossible
- strange
- logical
- appropriate
以下是更多在實際商務電子郵件中所使用的 “It seems + [形容詞]”的句型:
- It seems unlikely that there is any link to government agencies.
- It seems clear that it is in Enron's best interest to make those slight changes.
- It seems impossible, but it's not!
除了“It seems”以外,你也會聽到別人說“it appears”(這個稍微正式一點)、
“It seems to me”和單純“seems”一個字(在非正式的論述中)。
It sounds …
“It sounds” 和 “It seems” 在許多情況下都很接近,是可以互相替換的。
不過,“it seems” 整體而言是用來談論你的觀察,
“it sounds”則比較僅限於針對你讀過、聽過的事情的觀察上,
打比方説,假設你在談論一款新遊戲,你可以說:
- A friend told me about this game. It sounds fun!
- A friend told me about this game. It seems fun!
但是,如果你直接看到其他人在玩這款遊戲,
你就會說“It seems fun”而不是“it sounds fun”。
另外一個差異是,”it sounds“比較常用在簡短的片語中,
像是“It sounds great!”和 “It sounds good!”,
下列是最常搭配使用的形容詞:
- simple
- crazy
- better
- silly
- weird
- amazing
- obvious
- strange
- easy
- awesome
Judging from …
如果你想分享你觀察依據,就可以說“judging from”,
舉例而言,如果你想發表針對歷史的觀察,你很有可能會需要仰賴舊的文字或藝術品,
例如下列影片中的這位女士:
這裡還有更多範例:
- Judging from your Facebook posts, it seems like you had some fun in China!
- Judging from the look on her face, I knew that Sally didn’t like the pasta I made her.
- Judging from the questions he asked, he doesn’t seem to know anything about programming.
Perhaps
或許你已經知道“perhaps”是“maybe”的另一種說法,
但你知道它可以用在句子的開頭,且比起“I think”它來得更溫柔一點嗎?
它通常用來指出某事的原因,範例如下:
除了提出理由之外,你也可以在任何會使用“I think (it's possible that)”的地方改用“perhaps”。
- Perhaps it would be better if you got another job.
- Perhaps the best solution is to use their strategy against them.
It might/could be that
“I think it’s possible that”的另一個說法是“It might be that” 或是 “It could be that” 。
這些句型經常用來針對有點複雜的事情提出原因。
例如,如果你的手機突然故障,有人可能會說:
- It might be that it’s low on battery.
- It could be that it’s old. You’ve been using it for six years already!
或者是,如果有某位朋友最近看起來很易怒,你可能會跟另個朋友說:
- It could be that he’s burnt out from work.
- It might be that he’s still recovering from his breakup.
下面這個是跟歇斯底里有關的討論內容,
你會聽到一位精神科醫生用“It might be that”來帶出現在歇斯底里比較沒那麼普遍的原因。
小試身手
根據你閱讀這篇部落格文章的行為來看,
你很可能也想要提升你的英文口說能力😎
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說不定能實際在課堂上使用本文裡介紹的句型哦!