قاعده‌هایی که کسی ننوشتهRules nobody wrote down

Talking about the general case without over-generalising

حرف‌زدن از فرهنگ همان لحظه که بگویی «ایرانی‌ها فلان می‌کنند» یا «انگلیسی‌ها بهمان‌اند» فرومی‌پاشد، و ممتحن B2 سخت نمره کم می‌کند — نه به‌خاطر ادب، بلکه چون بی‌دقت است. انگلیسی طیف کاملی در اختیارت می‌گذارد. انتظارِ غیرشخصی هر گروهِ نام‌برده‌ای را حذف می‌کند: it is expected that…، you are expected to…، one is supposed to…، it is customary to…، the done thing is to… «You are expected to reciprocate the invitation» می‌گوید هنجار چیست بی‌آنکه ادعا کند همه رعایتش می‌کنند. تعمیمِ تعدیل‌شده: tend to، generally، as a rule، more often than not، by and large، for the most part. «People here tend to queue» قابل‌دفاع است؛ «people here queue» نه. قالبِ حالتِ نوعی: it is not uncommon for X to Y، there is a tendency to…، X is more usual than Y. مجهولِ داوریِ اجتماعی دقیقاً اینجا درست است، چون داور واقعاً کسِ خاصی نیست: it is frowned upon، it is considered rude، it would be seen as odd، it is taken as a slight. و یک ساختار که ارزش مالک‌شدن دارد: WOULD برای رفتار نوعیِ گذشته — «when I first arrived, I would apologise for everything» — که عادت را توصیف می‌کند نه یک کنش را. با used to مقایسه کن که آن‌وقت را با حالا مقابل می‌گذارد؛ would صرفاً عادت را روایت می‌کند.

Culture talk collapses the moment you say "Iranians do X" or "the English are Y", and B2 examiners mark that down hard — not for politeness, but because it is imprecise. English gives you a whole scale to sit on. THE IMPERSONAL EXPECTATION removes any named group at all: it is expected that…, you are expected to…, one is supposed to…, it is customary to…, the done thing is to… "You are expected to reciprocate the invitation" says what the norm is without claiming everyone follows it. THE HEDGED GENERALISATION: tend to, generally, as a rule, more often than not, by and large, for the most part. "People here tend to queue" is defensible; "people here queue" is not. THE TYPICAL-CASE FRAME: it is not uncommon for X to Y, there is a tendency to…, X is more usual than Y. THE PASSIVE OF SOCIAL JUDGEMENT is exactly right here, because the judge really is nobody in particular: it is frowned upon, it is considered rude, it would be seen as odd, it is taken as a slight. And one construction worth owning: WOULD for typical past behaviour — "when I first arrived, I would apologise for everything" — which describes a habit, not a single act. Compare used to, which contrasts then with now; would simply narrates the habit.