the letter of the law• The heart of all this is going beyond the letter of the law with your clients.• Some one who did not feel obliged to follow the letter of the law, or the instructions of the judge.• The agentcounsels them obliquely against waste, repeats the letter of the law, and smiles.• The builders may have adhered to the letter of the law, but not its spirit.• A month afterwards the teams will be sent out to discover whether retailers are sticking to the letter of the law.• By sticking to the letter of the law, the spirit of the law may be lost.• Sticking to the letter of the lawv. sticking to its spirit.
The school sent a letter to all the children’s parents.
学校给所有孩子的父母都发去一封信。
post a letterBritish EnglishBrE, mail a letterAmerican EnglishAmE 寄信
nCould you post this letter for me?
answer a letter/reply to a letter 回信
nI never answered his letter.
open a letter 打开信
nBill opened the letter and read it.
read a letter 读信
nMay I read her letter?
a letter comes/arrives 信寄到
nA letter came for you today.
a letter is addressed to somebody (=has their name and address on the envelope) 信是寄给某人的
nThe letter was addressed to Mr. John Appleby.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + letter
long/short 长/短
She was thrilled to get a long letter from her son.
她收到儿子寄来的一封长信,异常激动。
formal/informal 正式/非正式
The letter sounded very formal.
这封信读起来非常正式。
a personal letter 私人信件
I don’t want him reading my personal letters.
我不希望他读我的私人信件。
a business letter 商务信函
nIn business letters you often use phrases such as ‘I would be grateful if ...’.
an official letter 公函
nI received an official letter thanking me for my enquiry.
a love letter 情书
nThe book had a copy of a love letter from King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.
a thank-you letter 感谢信
nMum made me write thank-you letters for all my birthday presents.
a covering letterBritish EnglishBrE, a cover letterAmerican EnglishAmE (=that you send with your CV to an employer) 〔连同履历一起寄给雇主的〕附函,说明信
nAlways enclose a cover letter with your resume.
phrases
a letter of thanks/introduction/complaint etc 感谢信/介绍信/投诉信等
I finally got a letter of apology from the company.
最后我收到了公司的一封致歉信。
COMMON ERRORSDon’t say ‘invitation letter’ or ‘complaint letter’. Say letter of invitation or letter of complaint.
不要说 ‘invitation letter’ 或 ‘complaint letter’. 而要说 letter of invitation或 letter of complaint.
Examples from the Corpus
letter• David, who won first prize in the lottery, has received more than 100 letters from charities asking for money.• I got a letter from Anna today.• Blackwell said in a letter last week sent to the Union-Tribune.• In a letterdated May 10th, the US government protested about the use of force in the republics.• Write me a letter and tell me all your news!• Hamlin wrote a letter to the council, complaining about the incident.• By his second year, he said, nearly 30 schools were sending him letters.• Impassioned letters to Onegin: 1.• Two other letters of Anselm during Osbern's disciplinaryexile at Bec complete the story of their first meeting.• Which is the one that has been informed of the letter?• When Shevardnadze produced the letter and handed it to the President, Reagan placed it unopened on the table beside his chair.
1written/printed message書信ADJECTIVE | VERB + LETTER | LETTER + VERB | LETTER + NOUN | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤lengthy, long長信▸➤brief, short簡短的信;短信▸➤ten-page, etc. * 10 頁等的信▸➤rambling東拉西扯的信▸➤countless, numerous數不清的信;許多信◇She received countless letters of support while in jail.在獄中她收到了不計其數支持她的信件。➤occasional偶爾寫的信◇Apart from the occasional letter, they had not been in touch for years.除了偶爾通信之外,他們好多年沒有聯繫了。➤airmail航空信件➤registered掛號信▸➤handwritten手寫信件▸➤anonymous匿名信▸➤formal, official正式/官方信件▸➤business商務信函▸➤personal個人信件▸➤confidential, private機密/私人信件▸➤open, public公開信◇The editor published an open letter to the president.編輯發表了一份給總統的公開信。➤circular傳閱的函件▸➤chain連鎖信▸➤form, standard通函;標準格式的信件▸➤sample信函範本▸➤accompanying, cover, covering, explanatory (especially BrE) 附函;附信;說明信◇The conditions are explained in the accompanying letter.這些條件在附函中予以解釋。◇Send your résumé with a cover letter. (NAmE) 請隨求職信寄來你的簡歷。◇Send your CV with a covering letter. (BrE) 將你的個人簡歷隨求職信一並寄出。➤thank-you感謝信◇I wrote my uncle a thank-you letter as soon as I opened the present.我一打開禮物就給叔叔寫了一封感謝信。➤congratulatory賀信▸➤warning警告信▸➤acceptance, rejection接受函;回絕信◇I've had ten job interviews and received ten rejection letters.我參加了 10 次求職面試,收到了 10 封回絕信。➤resignation辭職信▸➤suicide絕命書▸➤fan崇拜者來信▸➤love情書▸➤intimate私密信件▸➤nice懇切的信▸➤friendly友好的信▸➤heartfelt, impassioned真誠的/充滿激情的信件◇She wrote an impassioned letter to her local newspaper to complain about the new road.她給當地的報紙寫了一封措辭激烈的信,投訴新修的馬路。➤polite客氣的信▸➤apologetic道歉信▸➤angry, strong, strongly worded, threatening憤怒的信;措辭強硬的信;恐嚇信▸➤indignant憤憤不平的信▸➤critical批評信➤poison pen匿名誹謗信◇He had been sending poison pen letters to people at work.他一直在給工作的人們寄送匿名誹謗信。VERB + LETTER➤draft, write起草信;寫信◇She drafted an angry letter to the newspaper.她起草了一封給報社的怒氣沖沖的信。➤read看信▸➤get, have, receive收到信◇I haven't had a letter from her for months.我已經幾個月沒收到她的信了。➤mail, post, send寄信➤email發電子郵件▸➤fax傳真信▸➤deliver送信▸➤forward轉交信◇The letter was forwarded from my old address.這封信是從我的舊地址轉來的。➤seal封好信▸➤open打開信▸➤acknowledge, answer, reply to, respond to告知已收到信;回信;答覆信◇I was angry that they didn't even acknowledge my letter.我生氣的是他們甚至沒有確認已經收到我的信。➤address在信上寫姓名及地址◇The letter was addressed to me.這封信是寄給我的。➤sign在信上簽字▸➤publish發表信件◇The newspaper refused to publish the letter.這家報紙拒絕發表這封信。➤edit編輯信件◇We reserve the right to cut or edit letters.我們保留刪減或者編輯信件的權利。LETTER + VERB➤arrive, come, reach sb信件到達;信送到(某人處)◇I hope my last letter has reached you.我希望我的上一封信已送到你手中。➤be dated...信上註明的日期為⋯◇The letter is dated July 7.這封信日期為 7 月 7 日。➤cross信件相互錯過◇Our letters crossed.我們的信相互錯過了。➤be lost信件丟失➤announce sth, ask (sb) sth, explain sth, say sth, state sth, tell sb sth來信宣佈⋯;來信詢問(某人)⋯;來信解釋⋯;信上說⋯;信函陳述⋯;來信告訴某人⋯◇She wrote him a letter saying that she was not coming back.她給他寫了一封信,說自己不會回來了。➤begin, start, start off信開始;信開頭◇The letter started off by thanking us for our offer.信中首先感謝了我們的提議。➤continue, go on信接着講述◇His letter went on to give reasons for his refusal to take part.他的信接着講了他拒絕參加的原因。➤conclude, end信結尾◇The letter concluded with a threat of possible legal action.這封信在結尾揚言有可能要訴諸法律。➤contain sth信中有⋯◇The letter contained information that only the killer could know.信裏有些只有殺手才會知道的信息。➤enclose sth信裏附有⋯◇The charity received an anonymous letter enclosing a large donation.慈善機構收到了一封附有一大筆捐贈的匿名信。➤appear信出現◇A letter headed 'Advertising Mania' appeared in the paper.報紙上刊登了一封題為《廣告熱》的信。LETTER + NOUN➤writer, writing信的作者;寫信◇George Bernard Shaw was a prolific letter writer.蕭伯納是一位多產的書信作者。➤carrier (NAmE) (postman/postwoman in BrE)郵遞員▸➤box (BrE) (mail slot in NAmE)(mailbox in NAmE)信箱◇A card dropped through the letter box.一張卡片丟進了信箱。(mail slot in NAmE)◇There's a letter box on the corner of the street.街角那兒有一個郵筒。(mailbox in NAmE)➤opener (especially NAmE) 開信刀▸➤bomb (mail bomb in NAmE)信件炸彈PREPOSITION➤by letter通過信件◇Please reply by letter.請來信回覆。➤in a/the letter在信中◇In your letter of June 5...在您 6 月 5 日的信中⋯➤letter about, letter concerning, letter regarding關於⋯的信▸➤letter from, letter to來自⋯的信;給⋯的信◇a letter to the editor致編輯的信➤letter of⋯信◇a letter of application / apology申請信/道歉信letter
noun²
2sign that represents a sound in a language字母ADJECTIVE | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤big, large大的字母;大字母▸➤block, capital, upper-case大寫字母◇Fill in the form in block letters.用大寫字母填表。➤lower-case, small小寫字母▸➤bold黑體字母▸➤initial首字母◇The company's name is made from the initial letters of his children's names.公司名稱由他幾個孩子名字的首字母組成。➤double雙寫字母◇Words with double letters, such as 'accommodate', are commonly misspelled.有雙寫字母的詞,如 accommodate 常常被拼錯。➤silent不發音的字母◇words such as 'debt' and 'half', which contain silent letters含有不發音字母的詞,如 debt 和 halfPREPOSITION➤in... letters用⋯字母◇His name was written in large white letters over the doorway.他的名字用白色的大寫字母寫在門的上方。PHRASES➤the letters of the alphabet字母
letter noun ⇨letter (send a letter)⇨number2 (the letters of the alphabet)letter
noun
letter ♦︎ message ♦︎ email ♦︎ mail ♦︎ note ♦︎ memo ♦︎ fax ♦︎ text ♦︎ post ♦︎ communication ♦︎ correspondenceThese words all mean sth that you write and send to sb in order to communicate with them.这些词均表示信函、邮件。PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS 句型和搭配◆a letter / a message / an email / mail / a note / a memo / a fax / a text / post / a communication / correspondence from / to sb◆(a) personal / private letter / message / email / mail / note / communication / correspondence◆a brief letter / message / email / note / memo / communication◆(a) business letter / email / mail / memo / correspondence◆a thank-you letter / message / email / note◆to send / receive a letter / a message / an email / mail / a note / a memo / a fax / a text / post / a communication / correspondence◆to write a letter / a message / an email / a note / a memo◆to open a letter / a message / an email / the mail / the post◆a letter / a message / an email / the mail / a fax / the post arrives■letter [countable] a piece of text that you write on paper and send to sb, usually in an addressed envelope, in order to tell them sth信;函◆You should include a covering letter with your CV.寄简历时应该附上求职信。◆They wrote a letter of complaint to the television network.他们给电视台写了一封投诉信。◆You will be notified by letter.你将会收到信函通知。◆ (BrE) to post a letter寄信◆ (NAmE) to mail a letter寄信■message [countable] a short piece of written or spoken information that you give to sb when you cannot speak to them directly(书面或口头的)信息,消息,音信◆I left a message on her answering machine.我在她的电话答录机上留言了。◆Victoria's not here at the moment. Can I take a message?维多利亚这会儿不在,要我给你传个话吗?◆The computer displays an error message when I try to run the program.我试着运行该程序时,电脑出现错误信息提示。■email ( e-mail) [countable, uncountable] a written message that you send from your computer to another person's computer over a network such as the Internet电子邮件;电邮◆I got an email from Andrew last week.我上周收到安德鲁的一封电子邮件。◆I have to check my email.我得查收一下电子邮件。▸email ( e-mail)
verb
[transitive] ◆David emailed me yesterday.戴维昨天给我发了电子邮件。◆I'll email the documents to her.我将用电邮把这些文件发给她。■mail [uncountable] the letters and packages which are sent and delivered by the postal system; messages that are sent or received on a computer邮件;信件;邮包;电子邮件◆There isn't much mail today.今天邮件不多。◆Is there a letter from them in the mail?邮包里有他们的来信吗?◆You've got mail.有你的信件。ⓘ In British English post is often used instead of mail to mean the letters and packages that sb sends and receives.在英式英语中,常用post而非mail来表示收发的信件和邮包。 see also mail ⇨ sendverb1■note [countable] a short informal letter短笺;便条◆Just a quick note to say thank you for a wonderful evening.仅以此短笺感谢您让我度过了一个美好夜晚。◆I left a note for Judith on her desk.我在朱迪丝的书桌上留了个便条。◆It is suspicious that he did not leave a suicide note.他没有留下遗书,这一点很可疑。■memo ˈmeməʊ; NAmEˈmemoʊ ( formalmemorandumˌmeməˈrændəm ) (pluralmemoranda ˌmeməˈrændə ) [countable] an official note from one person to another in the same organization备忘录◆The confidential memo was leaked to the press.那份机密备忘录被人泄露给了媒体。■fax [uncountable, countable] a system for sending documents in electronic form along telephone wires, using a special machine that sends, receives and prints the documents; a document sent by fax传真(系统);传真文件◆a fax machine传真机◆Can you send it to me by fax?你能把它传真给我吗?◆What is your fax number?你的传真号码是多少?◆Did you get my fax?你收到我的传真了吗?▸fax
verb
[transitive] ◆Can you fax me the latest version?你能把最新版本传真给我吗?◆Can you fax it to me?你能把它传真给我吗?■text ( ˈtext message) [countable] a written message that you send using a mobile phone(手机)短信;短讯;简讯◆Send a text to this number to vote.请发短信到此号码参加投票。▸text ( ˈtext-message)
verb
[transitive] ◆I texted him to say we were waiting at the hotel.我发短信告诉他我们在酒店等候。■post [uncountable] (BrE) mail邮件;信件;邮包◆The book arrived in the morning post.这本书是上午邮递送来的。 see also post ⇨ sendverb1■communication [countable] (formal) a message, letter or telephone call信息;书信;电话◆If you no longer wish to receive communications from us, follow the instructions at the bottom of the email.如果你不想再收到我们的信息,请按照电邮底部的说明去做。 see also communication ⇨ communication, communicate ⇨ convey, communicate ⇨ talk■correspondence [uncountable] (ratherformal) the letters a person sends and receives来往信件;往来书信◆The editor welcomes correspondence from readers on any subject.编辑欢迎读者就任何问题来信。◆the correspondence column / page(= in a newspaper)读者来信专栏 see also correspondence ⇨ communication