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... Usage Lesson: ... In English there are many books on accepted rules of usage, such as, ... Robert's Rules of Order. English also differentiates technical or formal ... writing from non-technical or informal writing. For example, many college ... professors do not want you to use contractions, such as "don't". They ... mandate that you spell the words out in the papers that you write for them: ... "do not". ... Chinese also, as probably every higher language, has rules of order. ... One of the main differentiations is that it is commonplace to use some ... words particularly for speaking, which we might call, "speaking-words," ... or, "Chinese oral words," while other words, synonyms, actually, are ... reserved as "Chinese written words." As such, the word, "negligible" ... commonly uses "hěnshǎode" --- ( 很少 ) when spoken, but when written, ... as in a newspaper or a book (which is what is meant perhaps by "written"), ... then the more sophisticated word, "wēibùzúdàode" - ( 微不足道 ) is ... preferred. ... It is not the purpose of this course to be one-sided. Therefore we mix ... these two concepts into our lessons. Mostly we opt for spoken sentences, ... but at other times, as on this page, we present you with a "written Chinese" ... example. |