Chinese Studio 汉语对话 Lesson 028 Revision of Time and Shopping

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way，in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio on China Radio International. I’m Yajie.
Cam: And I’m Cam. We have reached the end of the week once again.
Yajie: So it’s the right time for us to review what we have learned during this week.

************** Sentences in the Week
This week we learned expressions for telling the time and shopping: 请问现在几点？快八点了. 这个多少钱？三块, 太贵了，能不能便宜点儿 ?All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: 现在几点？What time is it now?
Cam: 现在几点？(xianzai ji dian?)
Yajie: 现在 means now.
Cam: 现在(xianzai)
Yajie: 几 is a question word meaning how many, 几, j-i, the third tone.
Cam: 几 (ji)
Yajie: 几点 together means "what time?"
Cam: 几点 (ji dian)
Yajie: 现在几点？(xianzai ji dian?)
Cam: 现在几点？(xianzai ji dian?)
Yajie: 快八点了。It means nearly eight o’clock. Here 快 means nearly. 快, k-u-a-i, the fourth tone.
Cam: 快八点了(kuai ba dian le).

Conversations

Yajie: 元、角、分 are  the units of money.
Cam: 元(yuan), 角(jiao), 分(fen).
Yajie: one元(yuan) equals ten角(jiao), and one角(jiao) equals ten 分(fen).
Cam: And I also learned that元 is also called 块(kuai) in Chinese. For example 六块 (liu kuai).
Yajie: Yes,you are right. In oral Chinese， people prefer to say块.
Cam: 块(kuai). And Yajie, jiao is often referred to as mao.

Conversations

Yajie: “这个多少钱” means how much is it? 这个means this. 这个. Or zhèige.
Cam: 这个(zhèige).
Yajie: 多少is how much. 多, d-u-o, the first tone; 少,s-h-a-o, the third tone. In fact 多means “many or much”, and 少 means “few or little”. But together it means “how much or how many”?
Cam: 多少 (duoshao).
Yajie: 钱 is money., q-i-a-n, the second tone.
Cam: 钱 (qian).

Conversations

Yajie: If you are not satisfied with the price, you could say “太贵了。能不能便宜点儿？”. That’s too expensive. Could it be a little bit cheaper? 太贵了。
Cam: 太贵了(tai gui le).
Yajie: 能不能? (néng bu néng) 能means could, 能不能means “Could it be?”
Cam: 能不能? (néng bu néng)
Yajie: 便宜 means cheap. 便宜(pianyi).
Cam: 便宜(pianyi).
Yajie: 点儿is short for 一点儿, meaning a little bit.
Cam: 一点儿(yi dianr).
Yajie: 便宜点儿.
Cam: 便宜 (pianyi dianr).
Yajie: 能不能便宜点儿? (néng bu néng pianyi dianr)
Cam: 能不能便宜点儿? (néng bu néng pianyi dianr)

Conversations

************** Sentences in the Week
This week we learned the expressions for telling the time and shopping: 请问现在几点？快八点了. 这个多少钱？ 三块.太贵了，能不能便宜点儿？***************

Yajie: OK, that's it for this week.  Have fun trying these new words while you are out shopping! Don't forget you can win a CRI gift by answering our question of the day.  In Chinese, tell us how to say “How much is it?” Send your answer to [email protected].
Cam: You can also send us questions or comments to [email protected].  That’s [email protected].  Or you can visit us on our website at en.chinabroadcast.cn. Click learn Chinese, where you can enjoy other free Chinese-learning programs.
Cam: 下周见(xia zhou jian)!
Yajie:下周见