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	找	zhǎo	to return ; to give back (money/give change)
2	可以	kěyǐ	to be possible
3	买	mǎi	to buy
4	要	yào	to want
5	给	gěi	to give
6	尝尝	chángchang	to try

Others

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

2. Linguistic note

In China, prices are indicated in the country currency like the yuan 元 ‹ yuán ›, the Chinese currency. However, when speaking we replace 元 ‹ yuán › by 块 ‹ 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:

• 这种 地图 多少钱 一张？ ‹ Zhè zhǒng dìtú duōshǎo qián yī zhāng? ›
  This kind of card costs how much (each)?

• 香蕉 多少钱 一斤？ ‹ Xiāngjiāo duōshǎo qián yī jīn? ›
  Bananas cost how much half a kilo?

B. Adverb "again / also" 还 ‹ hái ›

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

• 您 还 要 别的 吗？ ‹ Nín hái yào bié de ma? ›
  Do you want something else (more) ?
• 我 还 要 两 斤 香蕉。 ‹ Wǒ hái yào liǎng jīn xiāngjiāo. ›
  I also want a kilo of bananas.

4. Dialogues

Dialogue N° 1

- 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

- 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

- 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? ›
- 一共十八块。 ‹ 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_________________ ？