How much is it
You finished this day
Prices come at you fast and nobody slows down for them. Today is about asking, catching the answer and paying, which in China usually means a phone.
Asking the price
One phrase, and three ways to extend it.
多少钱 has no verb at all, and it does not need one. Chinese leaves out whatever the situation makes obvious, and at a market stall both the thing and the buying are obvious. 太贵了 shows another habit: 太 and 了 frame the adjective between them, and leaving off the 了 sounds unfinished to a Chinese ear. 多少 expects a number that could be large, which is why prices take it rather than the 几 you used for hours on day 4's numbers.
Money words
A spoken layer and a written layer, used side by side.
The tag says 25元 and the seller says 二十五块, much as a British shop says £25 and a person says twenty five quid. The difference is that in Chinese the spoken word is used by everyone, all the time. If you listen for 元 you will not hear it, so listen for 块.
Paying
Phone, card or cash, and one line for bargaining.
可以 in front and 吗 at the end make a polite may I, with the thing you want in the middle. Take any verb phrase and wrap it: 可以坐这儿吗, kěyǐ zuò zhèr ma, can I sit here. 吗 turns a statement into a yes or no question, which day 8 covers properly.
Most payments in mainland China are made by scanning a QR code with a phone, and small stalls may display nothing but a code. Cash is still legal tender and still taken, but change can be slow in coming. Before a trip, check how visitors can set up mobile payment with a foreign card, because the options change and it is much easier to sort out at home than at a noodle stall.
8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.
The tag says 30元. What will the seller say?
- 三十元 sānshí yuán
- 三块 sān kuài
- 十三块 shísān kuài
- 三十块 sānshí kuài
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三十块 sānshí kuài 元 is written, 块 is spoken. Both mean yuan.
Type how much is it? in pinyin.
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duōshao qián Literally how much money.
Which asks for the total?
- 现金 xiànjīn
- 一共多少钱？ yígòng duōshao qián?
- 这个 zhège
- 太贵了 tài guì le
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一共多少钱？ yígòng duōshao qián? 一共 is altogether.
Said without the 了, 太贵 sounds
- more polite
- like a question
- plural
- unfinished
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unfinished 太 and 了 frame the adjective together.
How do you turn 扫码, scan the code, into can I scan to pay?
- 扫码可以 sǎo mǎ kěyǐ
- 扫码了 sǎo mǎ le
- 吗扫码 ma sǎo mǎ
- 可以扫码吗？ kěyǐ sǎo mǎ ma?
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可以扫码吗？ kěyǐ sǎo mǎ ma? 可以 in front, 吗 at the end.
Type the word for cash.
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xiànjīn Still accepted, though phones do most of the paying.
Where is 便宜一点儿吧 appropriate?
- in a chain coffee shop
- at a hotel desk
- at a market stall
- in a supermarket
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at a market stall Bargaining belongs where prices are not fixed.
毛 is
- the written word for yuan
- a tenth of a yuan, in speech
- a hundred yuan
- a five yuan coin
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a tenth of a yuan, in speech Ten 毛 make one 块.
Question 1 of 8
Character 1 of 30
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Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.