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Which personal pronouns can I use in an instruction in Chinese to replace the English "one" or "you" when used as meaning "you, we or anyone else":

Examples in English:

"One can always be sure to find tasty tea in that shop."

"One should not spit on the sidewalk."

"You/one are allowed to smoke in the shop."

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  • grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/one.htm In the United States, one sometimes has a literary or highfalutin feel to it; the more it is used, the more pretentious it feels. In British English, the use of the impersonal or generic one is more commonplace and has no such stigma. In the U.S., one is often replaced by you.
    – user6065
    Dec 25, 2017 at 8:52
  • Or the royal we.
    – Mou某
    Dec 26, 2017 at 2:43

4 Answers 4

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Which personal pronouns can I use in an instruction in Chinese to replace the English "one"

user3306356's answer did not answer this question. Yes, the subject (or it's pronouns) can be omitted if the meaning is clear.

But in Chinese grammar, the[ one can + main clause] structure does exist, it is [你可以 + main clause]

你 is not restricted to mean 'you' only, it can be a general pronoun that mean 'anyone'-- And it is usually omitted just as user3306356's answer suggested.

Example:

in '可以在这里抽烟' (you/one can smoke here)

here refers to you and everyone else

One more example:

在这家工厂,只有25分钟的午餐时间 (In this factory, you/one only have 25 minutes lunch time)

here refers to you and everyone else

'你可以在这里抽烟' can be rephrase to '这里可以抽烟' omit '你' and '在' because we know who we are speaking to and 这里 strongly implies 在这里

'在这家工厂,你只有25分钟的午餐时间' can be rephrase to '这工厂只有25分钟午餐时间' (We know who only get 25 minutes)

I said it many times, "it is considered good form to omit everything you can omit, as long as the meaning is clear."

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  • Man, I haven't put any answer yet. lol
    – dan
    Dec 25, 2017 at 7:45
  • But I kind of agree with you. 'One' can be interpreted as 我们 or 你 based on the context. And sometimes it can be elided.
    – dan
    Dec 25, 2017 at 7:52
  • Sorry, I meant user3306356's answer, I would edit my answer
    – Tang Ho
    Dec 25, 2017 at 8:04
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    My argument is that One, as used in English, is basically never translated into Chinese. If it were it would sound very English.
    – Mou某
    Dec 25, 2017 at 8:39
  • 1
    So again, back to my point: this is more like English usage of you -or- we rather than one. I'm not trying to be pedantic, although it's getting there, but that's the point of these questions - I suppose.
    – Mou某
    Dec 26, 2017 at 2:42
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Pronouns are often omitted in Chinese when the context is clear.

I’m so tired is often just said as:

好累啊

Are you okay? can be rendered as:

还好吗?

and so on and so forth.

In the examples you gave the place would become the main subject and not 某人 (some person) or 某某 (someone).

Here are some rough ideas of how you would express these ideas in Chinese

"One can always be sure to find tasty tea in that shop."

那家店的茶很好喝 (that shops tea is tasty)

"One should not spit on the sidewalk."

人行道不是吐痰的地方 (the sidewalk is not for spitting)

"You/one are allowed to smoke in the shop."

店内严禁吸烟 (smoking is forbidden in the shop)

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You would probably refer to One as 人们. In chinese, it is most polite to refer to people as more than one. For example, instead of using 你, you would use 您.

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"You can" can be directly translated into "你能"/"你可以".

"One can" can be translated into "(大家/每个人/谁/我们) 都 (可以/能)."

Translate "you" to "你" is a good choice in most cases. But for "one", "每个人" is a generally good choice. If something can be taken for granted or is obviously easy/trivial, you can use "谁". Use "大家/我们" if you want to emphasize everybody including yourself.

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