office at
5: 30.
上例(出自喬麗蘋,2005)是一個明顯的會話協商過程。邀請者在對話中就邀請事宜徵陷被邀請者的意見,之侯互相協同確定了見面時間。正如Wierzbicka(1985:150)指出英語中邀請言語廣泛地運用疑問句,而限制使用祈使句。上例中對話雙方正是透過問答的形式完成了詢問→提出邀請→接受邀請→確認資訊這一過程。因此可以說,英語中邀請行為的實施往往以疑問句徵詢受邀者的意見,為對方留有足夠餘地,惕現了對受邀者的尊重。
要想準確地用英語表達邀請以及應答就需要我們瞭解一些有關邀請及其應答語的常用表達邀請別人常用的表達:
Would you
like/love
to…? Will
you come
to…(please)?
Do you
think you
could come
to…? I
hope you
can…. Do
you want
to...? I’d
/ We’d
like
toinvite....
接受邀請的常用表達:
Certainly./Sure,
I'd
like/love
to. Yes,
it's very
nice/kind
of you.
Yes. I’d
like it
very much.
拒絕邀請的常用表達:
Sorry, I'd
love to,
but… Thank
you very
much, but…
That’s
very kind
of you,
but I’m
afraid…
I’d love /
like to,
but I have
to... I’m
very
sorry, but


