Level 13 · Lesson 1

书面语与口语
Written and spoken Chinese

书面语里的文言底子、单音节词和成语密度；口语里的儿化、轻声和语气词。

The classical residue, monosyllables and chengyu of written Chinese, against the erhua and particles of speech.

你已经会了 · You already know this

十二级学完了。你能听、能说、能读、能写。可是打开一份报纸的社论，你会发现一个问题：语法你全都认识，句子却读得慢。这不是你的错。写的中文和说的中文本来就不是同一套词。

Twelve levels are done. You can listen, speak, read and write. Yet open a newspaper editorial and something is off: you recognise every piece of grammar, and still read slowly. That is not a gap in your learning. Written Chinese and spoken Chinese simply do not draw on the same set of words, and this chapter hands you the second set.

规则 · The rules

现代汉语有两种语体：写文章用的书面语，说话用的口语。两者语法相同，词语不同。

规则 1

口语：我跟他一起去。书面语：我与他同往。

Modern Chinese has two registers. The grammar is the same in both; the vocabulary is not.

你学的是口语的词。它在任何地方都能用，也最容易听懂。书面语不是另一种语法，只是另一批词——而且这批词大多是从文言来的。

What you learned is the spoken set. It works everywhere and is the easiest to follow by ear. The written register is not a second grammar — it is a second batch of words, and most of that batch came down from Classical Chinese.

书面语保留了一批文言虚词，口语里各有对应的说法。

规则 2

与、及 = 和；但、然而 = 但是；已 = 已经；若 = 要是；则 = 就；此 = 这；其 = 他的。

Written Chinese keeps a set of classical function words, each with an everyday counterpart: 与/及 for 和, 但 for 但是, 已 for 已经, 若 for 要是, 则 for 就.

认识这十几个词，社论就一下子好读了。它们出现的位置和口语词完全一样，所以你不用重新学语法，只要换词就行。「若有问题，则请联系我们」＝「要是有问题，就请联系我们」。

Learn these dozen or so words and editorials open up at once. They sit in exactly the same slots as their spoken counterparts, so there is no new grammar to absorb — only a substitution. 若有问题，则请联系我们 is word-for-word 要是有问题，就请联系我们.

书面语偏爱单音节词，口语偏爱双音节词。

规则 3

已 / 已经、但 / 但是、因 / 因为、故 / 所以、亦 / 也。

Writing prefers one syllable where speech prefers two: 已 against 已经, 但 against 但是, 因 against 因为.

口语有自己的标记：儿化、轻声、语气词和「咱们」这类词。

规则 4

一点儿、玩儿、这儿；呢、吧、啊、嘛；咱们、干嘛、挺好的。

Speech has markers of its own: erhua, neutral tones, the sentence-final particles 呢/吧/啊/嘛, and words like 咱们 and 干嘛 that essentially never appear in formal prose.

所以判断语体很容易：看见「呢、吧、儿」就是口语，看见「与、则、已」就是书面语。写作文的时候别混着用，这是最常见的毛病。

So the test is quick: 呢, 吧 and 儿 mean speech; 与, 则 and 已 mean writing. The commonest fault in a learner's essay is not error but mixture — a classical 则 sitting next to a chatty 吧.

书面语跟着口语走，是白话文运动的结果。

规则 5

二十世纪初，胡适等人提倡用白话写文章，文言不再是唯一的书面语。

That written Chinese follows speech at all is recent: in the early twentieth century Hu Shi and others argued for writing in 白话, the vernacular, and Classical Chinese ceased to be the only written language.

一步一步 · Step by step

同一个意思，两种语体

要是下雨，我们就不去了。 — 口语 — 要是…就…，句末了
若下雨，则不前往。 — 书面语 — 若…则…，单音节动词
他已经来了，可是她还没来。 — 口语 — 已经、可是
他已至，但她未到。 — 书面语 — 已、但、未
我跟他一起去。 — 口语 — 跟、一起
我与他同往。 — 书面语 — 与、同

判断一段文字的语体

找虚词 — 第一步：看连词和副词，不看实词
与、及、但、已、若、则、其、此 — 出现这些 → 书面语
呢、吧、啊、嘛、儿、咱们 — 出现这些 → 口语
数一数成语 — 四字成语越多，语体越正式
下结论 — 两类标记通常指向同一个方向

练习 · Practice

「与」在口语里相当于哪个词？

「若下雨，则不前往」是哪种语体？

书面语的「已」，口语里说 ________。

把书面语词和口语词配对。

排一排：「要是有问题，就请联系我们。」

下面哪一组是口语的标记？

用一用 · Use it

现在做一件事。找一篇中文新闻，先把它读完，再把每一个书面语虚词圈出来，换成口语的说法，念给自己听。然后反过来：用你自己的话写三句，再把它们改写成书面语。能在两种语体之间来回走，你就真的进了汉语的门。

Now do this. Find a Chinese news article, read it through, then circle every written-register function word, swap in its spoken counterpart and read the result aloud. Then reverse it: write three sentences in your own speech and rewrite them for print. Moving freely in both directions is what it means to be inside the language rather than studying it.