Filling in forms can be frustrtaing

Jo:  You’re looking a bit puzzled Jean – is everything OK?
 
Jean:  Oh hi Jo – 是，我真的是很伤脑筋。I’m filling in a form and it’s all just a bit
confusing 真的把我搞糊涂了！
 
Jo:  Well maybe I can help you – and we can also help Rose Guo from Beijing
who wrote to us saying she wants some advice on filling in forms in English.
 
Jean:  我们本周BBC Learning English《你问我答》节目中正是为大家解答在用英语填写表
格的时候容易遇到的一些问题。- 希望节目里学习之后我也能轻松从容的把我手上的这
个表格填完！
 
Jo:  So what’s confusing you Jean?
 
Jean:    Well it says I have to write my family name 就是我名字里的姓 but then it
also says initials 姓名中的大写字母and I don’t know what to write.
 
Jo:  Ah OK – well let’s get some advice on this from our BBC Learning English
expert, Callum.
 
Insert
 
I need to explain a little bit about how we do names in Britain. My name is Callum
Robertson. Callum is my given name. My family name, my last name, my surname– is
Robertson. On a form it might just say, What’s your initial? And your initial is the first
letter of your name – so for example my name is Callum but the initial is C. But if I’m
asked to write my name with initials I do include my middle names so I would put C.J.S.
Robertson.
 
Jean:  Callum 他说到了given names – 就是你的父母给你起的名字。在西方，有的时候这
个名字的另一个叫法是Christian name, 也就是你的first name或者有的表格上要
求你填写的F.O.R.E. forename, 就是你的名而不是你的姓。
 
Jo:  Then he talked about his family name – which is sometimes called your
surname or your last name.
 
Jean:  所以在英语里，一个人名字的姓一般有三种叫法 – family name, last name或者

S.U.R. surname.

Jo:  On forms it might just ask you to write your initial and your family name.
So Callum explains that your initial is the first letter of your given name.
His name is Callum so his initial is C.
 
Jean:  在英国和其它很多国家，你的父母给你起的不只是你经常用的这个名字，他们还会给你
起一个中间名 middle name，放在名和姓之间。这样的中间名其实并不十分常用，一
般只是会出现在你的身份证等正式文件上。通常大家互相称呼都用不到这样的中间名，
都是直接叫名字，像 Callum，Jean 或者 Jo。很多时候，父母会给子女起不只一个的
中间名。
 
Jo:  A middle name.
 
Jean:  所以如果你的父母给你起了中间名，你名字的全称排列顺序就是你的名字、中间名、后
面跟姓。而需要给出 initial 名字全称的第一个字母的时候，就要写上这些中间名的头
一个字母。比如 Callum 的全名是 Callum  James Stewart Robertson – 所以如果
要写他名字的大写字母后面跟姓氏的话，就是C.J.S. Robertson. 
 
Jo:  Here  are  some  other  things  that  you might  see  and need  to  know when
you fill in a form in English.
 
Insert
 
Title is how you are referred to officially – for men it’s usually Mr. and for women it can
be Mrs, Miss or Ms. And also if you have a title that you have earned – for example if
you’re a doctor, then rather than Mr. you would be Dr.
 
D.O.B. stands for date of birth, so if you see the initials D.O.B. it means, when were you
born? 
 
When we sign our name it can be very difficult to actually read what it says so you’ll also
be asked to print your name which means write your name clearly using letters that are
not joined up together.
 
If you are asked to write in block capitals it means write everything – all of the letters in
every word as a capital letter. 
 
Jean:  That is so useful – I think I can complete my form now. So title is 头衔、称
谓，就是你比较正式的头衔或者尊称。
 
Jo:  It’s how you’re referred to officially – so Mr. for men and Mrs. Ms. or Miss
for a woman. 
 
Jean:  男士一般的称谓是Mr，不过女性就不只是一种了：如果你是已婚那你的title就应该是
“夫人”Mrs，如果未婚则是“小姐”Miss。不过有人觉得这很不公平，为什么女的分
得这么清楚而男的已婚未婚酒都没区别。所以后来就又发明出了一个女性的title就是
Ms“女士”。如果你是读过博士学位毕业，你的title也可以是doctor，以此来代替
Mr。诸如此类的例子还有很多。
 
Jo:  D.O.B. means date of birth – the date you were born.
 
Jean:  Date of birth出生日期有时在英文表格上以缩写的形式出现D.O.B. 还有的时候在个
人签名signature一栏旁，表格会要求你拼出你的姓名，因为有的人签名是比较龙飞
凤舞，很难分辨出他的名字拼写。所以Print在这里出现的时候就是让你以印刷体写字
的意思。写联体字就是…

 
Jo:  Joined-up writing. So if a form says ‘print your name’ next to the signature
you write your name clearly using letters that aren't joined up. And finally
you are often asked on forms to write in block capitals, so write every
letter as a capital so it’s easier to read.
 
Jean:  以大写字母拼写，这样的方式填写表格会让对方比较容易看清楚、看得懂。Thank
you for all that useful information Jo and Callum.
 
Jo:  And we hope that helped you too Rose. Now don't forget you can email us
with any question you have about English – questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk
And you can see other questions we’ve answered on our website
www.bbcchina.com.cn.  
 
Jean:    Right I’m going to finish off this form then. See you next time.
 
Jo:    Good luck with it Jean. Bye. 

Listen to this programme first and then read the content below. 请先听节目然后再阅读以下内容。

Rose from Beijing sent in this week's question and she wants some advice on filling in forms in English. She came across items on a form she was filling in - initials and family name - and wants to know the differences between them.

Callum from BBC Learning English explained to us a little more about names in English. Everyone basically has a family name - the same name your other family members share. Family names are also known as last names or surnames.

Then everyone has a given name that your parents choose for you when you are born. This is also known as your first name, Christian name and sometimes on forms you'll see it called a forename.

However in the UK, and in fact in many other countries, people have middle names. This is a name your parents will also choose for you - it might be that there is a much-loved relative your parents want to name you after, or maybe there is a tradition that every boy in your family has that name or something. It could just be that your parents like the sound of that name with your first name. Middle names are only usually used on forms and official documents though.

Your initial is the first letter of your first name and middle names. So if your first name is John, your middle name is Robert and your family name is Smith - your initials will be J.R. On forms you are often asked for your family name and initial, so he would be J.R. Smith

The actress Nicole Kidman's full name is Nicole Mary Kidman - so her initials and family name is N.M.Kidman.

Some other things you might need to know when you fill out a form in English:-

- When you see the word title it means how you are referred to officially. If you are a man you will be Mr. - Mr. Yang for example. If you are a married woman you will be Mrs. and if you aren't married you will be Miss. However, a lot of women think it is unfair that you can't tell if a man is married from his title but you can a woman. So Ms. was created for women who want to use it.

- You often see D.O.B. written on forms. This stands for date of birth - the day you were born.

- You might see the words 'Print your name' on a form next to your signature. Sometimes signatures are hard to read so you have to print your name so that your name can be easily read. Print here means to write clearly - not in joined-up writing.

- You will probably be asked to write on a form in BLOCK CAPITALS. This means write every letter as a capital so that it is easier to read your form.

We hope that has cleared up your confusion Rose and given you some good advice to help you when filling in forms.

Why not send us your own question about English - you can email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk - you might see your question answered on these web pages so get writing!

came across 遇到
initials 姓名打头的大写字母
family name 姓
given name 名
middle names 中间名
a much-loved relative 一位被大家喜欢的亲属
to name someone after somebody 因为某人而给另一个人起相同名字
official documents 正式文件
actress 女演员
title 头衔、尊称
referred to 把某人叫作...
officially 正式的、官方的
unfair 不公平
date of birth 出生日期
print your name 以印刷体书写你的姓名
signature 签名
joined-up writing 写字连笔
block capitals 大写字母
cleared up your confusion 为你解惑
get writing 现在就写

Glossary 词汇