humble tones in writing chinese

[Zomac]

I was reading a thread in the Chinese corner and I found that the use of some expressions may reflect some interesting differences between Chinese and English, which are rarely explained in the standard grammar book.

In Chinese writing, we sometimes use "we", "us" to avoid being looked self-centric or egoistic. Also common to simply omit the use of "I" if the subject is well understood. If you really want to say "I", we may use "human" (oneself) to represent that meaning rather than using "I".

In these two examples, it sounds "gross arrogance" to my ears, although it sounds perfect if I read it as English.

我说过，没必要继续讨论下去了。看了你在４３楼的回复，我更确认这一点 (CrisPal)

(I'd say: 早就说了没必要讨论. 看了你在 43 楼的回复, 更令人确认这一点.)

我会认可的字包括这个“来”（有钩）、这个“此”、这个“非”（无撇）、这个“兴”、“徳”、“戸”、这个“所”等等 (Hofmann)

(令人接受的字, 包括这个...)

I often say "we" in English and face the question like "who are we?". And I could imagine that if I say the above sentence in "I"-style in Chinese, I may be asked a similar question "who are you?"

It leads me to think of similar examples in other Asian languages like Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese that using "I" and "you" often requires more refined rhetoric.

I don't know how many ways to say "I" in Vietnamese, but i've been told that if you address something with a word "sach(?)" (somewhat refer to you) in Vietnamese, it will lead to a gross offense. In Japanese, they would say "love" rather than "i love you" because it sounds too slutty to say "i love you". Even the word "anata" (you) is too initiate as calling someone "babe". Please correct me if i'm wrong.

[889]

The use of "we" instead of "I" is more than frowned upon in ordinary English speech; it's called the "royal we," and for good reason. OK if you're the Queen of England, but otherwise not. Unless you want to come across as affected and pretentious.

[dumdumdum]

an individual represents only himself. where does the 'we' fit in? unless you are in a debate team talking about a controversal topic.

[renzhe]

It is sometimes used in scientific writing where, ironically, writing "I" sounds even more pompous. You'll find "we" even if there is only one author. The implication is that the work was done by a group of people, and the author does not wish to take sole credit.

[aristotle1990]

To add, whereas "you" is often used in English as a generic pronoun, "我们" can be used in such situations in Chinese (though "你" is more informal, I think).