勿 / 亦 / 皆 / 均 / 甚 / 颇【wù / yì / jiē / jūn / shèn / pō】

Modern written Chinese keeps a set of one-character words from 文言, the classical written language. Each one stands in for an everyday word, and a sentence that uses one tends to use several. You meet them on signs and notices, in news reports and in academic prose.

The common swaps:

• 勿 = 不要, mostly as 请勿 "please do not" and 切勿 "on no account"
• 亦 = 也
• 皆 and 均 = 都
• 甚 = 很, and 颇 = 相当 "quite"

勿 on signs and notices

请勿 + verb is the standard written prohibition. 切勿 is stronger, a warning.

亦, 皆 and 均

They sit where 也 and 都 would, after the subject and before the verb. 均 is the usual choice in rules and notices; 皆 is more literary.

甚 and 颇

甚 is "very", most often in 不甚 "not very" and 甚为 before a two-syllable adjective. 颇 is "quite, rather", often as 颇为 or 颇有 "has a good deal of".

Keeping the register even

One of these words pulls the rest of the sentence up with it. Next to chatty words or particles it clashes.

• × 请勿抽烟哦 → 请勿吸烟
• × 我们皆是好朋友呢 → 我们都是好朋友

之, 其, 于, 以, 乃, 此, 则, 故 and 未 are the same kind of word and each has its own point.