Abstract:After China entered WTO, the interaction of the trade between China and foreign countries is becoming unprecedentedly frequent. Business letters are a very important way of cooperation between business traders, including exchanging information, building and developing business relationships, dealing with problems in transactions, and maintaining goodwill.

　　　However, not all of the business letters can fully express writers’ original meanings, especially when writers transmit some negative meanings. Delivering bad news is one of the most sensitive and troublesome work in business communication. The reason is partly because of the different cultural background, and partly because the writers’ based consideration in writing—most writers tend to focus on “what to express” while neglecting “how to express”, which violates the utilization of politeness principles. In different social background, politeness has different forms and connotations. Bad-news business letters inform readers some unpleasant and depression news, thus writers must handle these letters skillfully for an enduring interpersonal relationship. Therefore, to cultivate the politeness principles in bad-news delivery from the perspective of you-attitude is practicable and meaningful both for the businessmen and students majored in Business English.

Key words: politeness principle; business letters; bad news; you-attitude

摘 要:自中国加入世贸之后，中国与世界各国的经贸外来日益频繁，商务信函作为商业交流的主要手段之一，在建立和维持商业联系、保持良好的合作关系和促进对外贸易起着至关重要的作用。

　　　然而，并非每一封商业信函都会完美地表达出写信人真正想要表达的意思，在传达否定内容坏消息时尤其如此。产生该现象不仅仅是因为各国的文化背景差异，也是因为人们过分注重表达内容，对其形式考虑甚少而忽略了礼貌原则在商务信函中的运用。在不同的社会背景下，礼貌的内涵也有所不同，并且礼貌的具体表现形式也有差异。坏消息信函要告知对方一些不愉快的或令人失望的消息，同时要与其保持良好的人际关系双重目的。因此研究商务信函坏消息存在的换位思考问题和探索有用的建议对于商业人士和商务英语专业的学生有实际和至关重要的作用。

关键词：礼貌原则；商务信函；坏消息；换位思考