Price and purchases in Chinese - Lesson 14 

In this lesson of Mandarin Chinese, we will address the prices and purchases topic.

1. Vocabulary

Verbs

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 zhǎo to return ; to give back (money/give change)
2 可以 kěyǐ to be possible
3 mǎi to buy
4 yào to want
5 gěi to give
6 尝尝 chángchang to try

Others

  Word Pinyin Translation Outils
1 多少 duōshao how much; how many
2 qián money
3 别的 biéde other
4 kuài (currency unit used in spoken Chinese)
5 yuán
yuan (currency used in China)
6 máo
0,10 yuan
7 fēn 0,01 yuan ; cents
8 jīn 500 grams; 1/2 Kg
9 公斤 gōngjīn
kilogram
10 一共 yīgòng altogether
11 太...了 tài...le too ...
12 guì expensive
13 便宜 piányi cheap
14 怎么样 zěnmeyàng how?; how about?
15 hái still (more); even more; in addition
16 zhǒng genre; type kind ; type
17 苹果 píngguǒ apple
18 香蕉 xiāngjiāo banana
19 葡萄 pútao grapes
20 nín you (courteous)

2. Linguistic note

In China, prices are indicated in the country currency like the yuan ‹ yuán ›, the Chinese currency. However, when speaking we replace ‹ yuán › by ‹ kuài ›. Here is a chart to help you read, tell and understand money amounts:

0.02 元
0.04 元
0.22 元
0.45 元
两分
四分
两毛二
四毛五
 
1.04 元
1.39 元
1.40 元
2.05 元
一块零四(分)
一块三毛九
一块四
两块零五(分)
 
2.20 元
2.22 元
10.4 元
10.04 元
两块二
两块两毛二
十块四毛
十块零四分

You may need to review the lesson on numbers and figures.

3. Grammar

A. Asking how much it cost

"多少钱 ‹ duōshǎo qián ›" (lit. "how much money") translate by "how much does it cost" or "how much costs ...".

When asking the price for a specific quantity, this expression is followed by the numerical value of the quantity and a measurement unit or the classifier corresponding to the topic:

(S +) 多少钱 + Quantity + CL ?
(S +) 多少钱 + Qty + Unit ?

B. Adverb "again / also" 还 ‹ hái ›

Like all adverbs in Chinese, the adverb ‹ hái ›, precedes the verb.

(S +) + V + Objet

4. Dialogues

Dialogue N° 1

vitesse+vitesse-Download

- 法国地图多少钱一张? ‹ Fàguó dìtú duōshǎo qián yī zhāng? ›
- 您要这种还是那种? ‹ Nín yào zhè zhǒng háishì nà zhǒng? ›
- 多少钱? ‹ Duōshǎo qián? ›
- 这种四块一张。那种三块五一张。 ‹ Zhè zhǒng sì kuài yī zhāng. Nà zhǒng sān kuài wǔ yī zhāng. ›
- 我要这种。 ‹ Wǒ yào zhè zhǒng. ›
- 您要多少张地图? ‹ Nín yào duōshǎo zhāng dìtú? ›
- 我要一张。给你钱。 ‹ Wǒ yào yī zhāng. Gěi nǐ qián. ›

Translation :

- How much do maps cost in France?
- Do you want this kind or that one?
- How much does it cost?
- This kind costs 4 yuans per unit; this one, 3 yuans.
- I want that kind.
- How many maps do you want?
- I want one. Here's the money.

Dialogue N° 2

vitesse+vitesse-Download

- 葡萄多少钱一斤? ‹ Pútáo duōshǎo qián yī jīn? ›
- 四块五。 ‹ Sì kuài wǔ. ›
- 可以尝尝吗? ‹ Kěyǐ cháng cháng ma? ›
- 可以,尝吧。 ‹ Kěyǐ, cháng ba. ›
- 葡萄好吃! ‹ Pútáo hào chī! ›
- 您要几斤? ‹ Nín yào jǐjīn? ›
- 我买一公斤。 ‹ Wǒ mǎi yī gōngjīn. ›

Translation :

- How much is half a kilo of grapes?
- 4.5 yuans.
- Can we try?
- Yes. Try it!
- The grapes are good!
- How many do you want (kilos)?
- I buy one kilogram.

Dialogue N° 3

vitesse+vitesse-Download

- 苹果多少钱一斤? ‹ Píngguǒ duōshǎo qián yī jīn? ›
- 八块。 ‹ Bā kuài. ›
- 太贵了,便宜一点吧。六块五一斤,怎么样? ‹ Tài guì le, piányí yīdiǎn ba. Liù kuài wǔ yī jīn, zěnmeyàng? ›
- 七块吧。 ‹ Qī kuài ba. ›
- 行。我要两斤。 ‹ Xíng. Wǒ yào liǎng jīn. ›
- 还要别的吗? ‹ Hái yào bié de ma? ›
- 还要一斤香蕉。一共多少钱? ‹ Hái yào yī jīn xiāngjiāo. Yīgòng duōshǎo qián? ›
- 一共十块。 ‹ Yīgòng shíbā kuài. ›
- 给你二十块钱。 ‹ Gěi nǐ èrshí kuài qián. ›
- 找您两块。 ‹ Zhǎo nǐ liǎng kuài. ›

Translation :

- How much cost five hundred grams of apples?
- Eight yuans.
- It's too expensive, (make it) a little cheaper. 6.5 yuan half kilo, alright ?
- Alright, 7 yuan.
- Okay. I want one kilo of it.
- Do you want something else?
- And also half a kilo of bananas. That's how much altogether?
- A total of 18 yuan.
- I give you 20 yuan.
- I give you back 2.

5. Substitution exercise

Replace the blanks in the question, according to the porposed list:

_________________多少钱_________________

一本书 → 18 元
一本词典 → 35 元
一张地图
→ 4 元
一支笔
→ 3,6 元
一斤饺子 → 28 元
一把椅子
→ 150 元
一张床
→2200 元

- Chinese Gratis -