5 · Politeness and social language
The formal register of letters and business
honorific and humble vocabulary
A small set of words — guì, běn, bì, guānglín, fǔshàng, gōngxǐ — raises the other side and lowers your own in formal speech and writing.
Chinese has no grammatical system of honorific verb forms, but it does have a layer of words that raise the other person and lower oneself, most of them inherited from older written Chinese. The commonest is 贵, “honourable, precious”, placed before what belongs to the other side: 贵姓 (your surname), 贵公司 (your company), 贵国 (your country), 贵校 (your school).
Your own side is lowered or kept neutral. In modern use 本 — “this, our” — is the standard: 本公司, 本店. Very formal or old-style writing uses the humble 敝, “my poor”: 敝公司. Other words follow the same logic: 拜访 (to pay a call on somebody) and 请教 (to ask somebody's advice) humble the speaker, while 光临 (your presence, your visit) and 府上 (your home) honour the other.
Good wishes come in fixed shapes. 恭喜 congratulates, often doubled: 恭喜恭喜. 祝 plus the person plus a set phrase wishes: 祝您身体健康, 祝你一路平安. A formal letter opens with 尊敬的 and a title, followed by a colon, and traditionally closes with 此致 and 敬礼 on two lines.
These words belong to invitations, business letters, speeches, ceremonies and the greetings of shops and restaurants. In ordinary conversation they sound stiff or even ironic. The one rule that never bends: an honorific always points outward. 贵 before your own company or your own name is a boast, not a courtesy.
The form
| your company — our company | 贵公司——本公司 |
| your presence | 欢迎光临！ |
| your home | 您府上在哪里？ |
| to ask for advice | 我想向您请教一个问题。 |
| congratulations | 恭喜恭喜！ |
| opening a letter | 尊敬的李教授： |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
贵 raises what belongs to the other side: name, company, country, school.
请问贵公司在哪里？May I ask where your company is based?
Your own side is kept neutral with 本, or lowered with 敝 in very formal writing.
本店周一休息。This shop is closed on Mondays.
Words for the other's visit, home and advice — 光临, 府上, 请教 — belong to formal moments.
感谢各位光临。Thank you all for coming.
Good wishes are built from 恭喜 or 祝 and a set phrase.
祝您身体健康，万事如意！Wishing you good health and every success!
A formal letter opens with 尊敬的, a name and a title, and a colon.
尊敬的王经理：您好！Dear Mr Wang (Manager Wang), …
A closer look
The frame of a formal letter
A formal Chinese letter has a fixed frame. It opens with the addressee and a colon — 尊敬的张教授： — then a greeting on its own line, 您好！. After the body come the closing words: traditionally 此致 on one line and 敬礼 at the start of the next, then the name and the date at the bottom right.
Business e-mail is lighter. It usually opens with the name, a title and 您好, and closes with a wish such as 祝好 (“all the best”) or 祝工作顺利 (“wishing you success in your work”). The honorific words survive there too — 贵公司, 贵方 — because they cost one character and are expected.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
shop or restaurant staff greet a customer
欢迎光临 is an everyday greeting, not a formal one.
欢迎光临！您想买点儿什么？Welcome! What can I get you?
Shops took up the formal welcome so widely that it has become a fixed formula, heard at every door.
How to spot it
- 贵
- 本
- 敝
- 光临
- 府上
- 恭喜
- 尊敬的
Example sentences
欢迎光临，请问几位？Welcome! How many of you are there?
非常感谢贵公司的支持。We are very grateful for your company's support.
恭喜你找到了新工作！Congratulations on finding a new job!
明天我想到您府上拜访。Tomorrow I would like to call on you at your home.
有个问题想向您请教。There is a question I would like to ask your advice on.
如有问题，请随时与本公司联系。Should you have any questions, please contact our company at any time.
8 more example sentences
贵国的风景非常美。Your country has beautiful scenery.
恭喜恭喜，祝你们白头偕老！Congratulations! May you grow old together.
欢迎各位来宾光临。A warm welcome to all our guests.
我们诚挚地邀请您参加开幕式。We cordially invite you to attend the opening ceremony.
祝您一路平安！Have a safe journey!
此事还请贵方尽快答复。We would ask your side to reply on this matter as soon as possible.
感谢您的惠顾，欢迎下次再来。Thank you for your custom — we hope to see you again.
此致敬礼！With respectful greetings. (the close of a formal letter)
Worth knowing (1)
-
Gōngxǐ fācái
At the Spring Festival the greeting 恭喜发财, “congratulations, and may you prosper”, is heard everywhere. It is a festive formula, not a comment on anybody's finances, and it is answered with the same words or with 新年好.
新年好！恭喜发财！Happy New Year! Wishing you prosperity!
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
贵 sounds like a general mark of formality, so learners put it before everything in a business letter. It honours the other side only; before your own company it reads as “our distinguished company” — a boast. Your own side is 本公司 or simply 我们公司.
Honorific words point outward to the other person; your own side stays plain or humble.
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.