Language Functions

2025年09月26日

版权

Language Functions

Congratulations

It is very common for us to congratulate our friends or acquaintances from time to time on their good news such as their accomplishment,graduation,or a new job.Giving our congratulations to someone else indicates our share of someone’s joy or happiness.The way of congratulations differs in tentativeness.Between close friends and acquaintances,we may sound informal like this:

Well done!

Fantastic!

You were amazing!

Great news!

You deserve it!

Congratulations!

That’s great/marvelous/wonderful!

Good job!Congratulations!

Congratulations on your graduation/marriage/new job/ promotion!

I’m so glad/happy/delighted/pleased to hear about your new born

baby,congratulations!

On formal occasions,we can use the following expressions to show our congratulations:

Allow me to offer my heartfelt congratulations on your

achievement!

Let me congratulate on your progress!

May I congratulate you on your success?

Please accept my warmest congratulations!

Thanks

In western countries,whatever another person does for you,even if it is very trivial,you should express your thanks to him/her.People say“Thank you”all the time in Europe and North America.Here are the commonly used expressions:

Thank you(very much/so much/indeed/a thousand times)!

Thanks!

Many thanks!

Thanks a lot!

A thousand thanks!

Thank you for your help/time!

I’m very grateful to you.

It’s very kind of you to help me.

I appreciate your help/time/gift.

I really appreciate it.

When people say“Thank you”to us,we can respond with the following short phrases that go from informal to form down the list:

Sure(thing).

You bet.

It’s nothing.

That’s all right.

Not at all.

Don’t mention it.

You’re welcome.

It’s my pleasure.

Expressing Apology and Regret

When we make mistakes or do something wrong,we can save ourselves a lot of trouble by showing our apology or regret before other people make a complaint.We may“break the bad news gently”by using the following expressions:

I’m not quite sure how to put this,but I lost your key.

I’m afraid I have to tell you that…

I’m afraid I have something to tell you.

Um,this isn’t easy to explain,but…

I have to apologize to you for giving you the wrong medicine.

I’ve got a bit of an apology to make,you see…

I’ve got a confession to make…

I must make an apology to you that…

I owe you an apology.

I’m awfully/dreadfully/terribly/extremely/ever so sorry that…

Very sorry,but I’m afraid…

Please excuse me for…

Can you forgive me that…?

I really should have…

How stupid of me(not)to do that!

If only I’d…

Depending on how serious the mistakes or consequences are,people may or may not“let you off the hook”and forgive you.If the mistake is not serious,you might hear something like:

Oh well.Never mind.

Not to worry.

That’s all right.

Don’t worry.

That’s OK.

These things happen.

It’s not really your fault.

Please don’t blame yourself.

It doesn’t matter.

Oh,it can’t be helped.

It’s all right.Forget it.

However,if the mistake brings about bad consequences,you might hear:

What a pity!How did you do that?

What a shame!How on earth did that happen?

What!You should be more careful!

Oh well!You need to fix it up!

Oh dear!You have to make up for the loss.

Oh no!You must face the consequences.

Oh now!I’ll take you to court!

Making a Complaint

A direct complaint in English often sounds very rude and many times may not help.To be polite,we can use the following expressions before we hit the point:

I wonder if you could help me,but this doesn’t work at all.

Look,I’m sorry to bother/disturb/trouble you,but…

I’ve got a bit of a problem here,you see…

I’m sorry to have to say this,but…

I hate to say this,but…

There’s something you could help me with.

Could you check this out?It doesn’t seem to work properly.

I wish you’d…

If other people are making a complaint to us,we can respond politely like this:

Oh,I’m terribly sorry.I’ll get you a replacement.

Oh dear,I’m most awfully sorry.

I’m so sorry.I didn’t realize.

I can’t tell you how sorry I am.

I just don’t know what to say.I promise it won’t happen again.

I’m extremely sorry.

I’m ever so sorry.

Online Library

You may log onto the following websites for more data and information of the lecture topic: