How do you address a company? 你 or 你们？

[vellocet]

English glosses over this by having the same word for singular and plural second person.  When you call up a company, or talk to staff in a store, do you address them as 你representing themselves or 你们 representing their company？

[Lu]

你 for the specific person, 贵公司 for the company. 你们 for the company could also work, but is less polite.

[roddy]

For written / formal stuff I'd go with the 贵公司, at least in initial communications. If I'm just asking someone on the shop floor what time they close, 你们。

[889]

I've used 贵公司 in a formal presentation. Maybe I'd use it if I ever found myself interviewing for a job. But not just walking into a shop, any more than I'd use 您. There it'd probably be, 你们这儿有没有 。 。 。? Unless I needed to borrow a pen, say, from the salesman, in which case it'd be just 你.

 

Or use constructions that avoid the issue: 麻烦你！我想买个 。 。 。有吗？

[vellocet]

Yeah, spoken Chinese.  I can't recall hearing  贵公司 before which makes me suspect it's "dictionary Chinese".  

 

你们公司 or 你们的公司？

[Lu]

3 hours ago, vellocet said:

I can't recall hearing  贵公司 before which makes me suspect it's "dictionary Chinese".

It's formal Chinese, but certainly not dictionary Chinese.

[Tomsima]

Not at all, if you're ever using Chinese in business,

本公司 Our company

貴公司 Your company

Is very normal

[yueni]

Agree with @Tomsima. 贵公司 and 本公司 are common when dealing with clients, especially in formal meetings and so on (especially when the Big Bosses are all involved). They're commonly spoken, and even more commonly used in written communications.

 

However, when it comes down to the people who actually get the work done (at least in the tech industry), people lower down the food chain who are dealing with each other (and not with the bosses/business types) to produce the product/provide the service, it becomes 你们 or 你们公司 and 我们 or 我们公司, especially over QQ. But bear in mind that tech-types tend to be more casual in dealing with each other as well.

[vellocet]

Thanks for the clarifications everyone!  What about at the bottom of the food chain, retail staff and whoever answers the telephone when I call a business?

[陳德聰]

14 hours ago, vellocet said:

What about at the bottom of the food chain, retail staff and whoever answers the telephone when I call a business?

你好，請問你們今天幾點關門？

 

Unless you mean like call them to apply for something.