Lesson 175 咱们买哪种票?

M: Peng2you3men. Ni3men hao3! Huan1ying2 shou1ting1 Xian4zai4 Xue2 Han4yu3. Wo3 shi4 ML.

S: Wo3 shi4 Stuart. And, ML, I think it's time to go to the huo3che3zhan4 and buy some huo3che1piao4 - train tickets.

M: Hao3 zhu2yi4. wher are we going 咱们去哪儿 zan2men qu4 nar3?

S: 咱们去上海，好不好 zan2men qu4 Shang4hai3, hao3 bu4 hao3?

M: OK! What kind of ticket shall we buy? 咱们买哪种票? Zan2men mai3 nei3 zhong3 piao4?

S: The cheapest! 咱们买最便宜的 zan2men mai3 zui4 pian2yi de.

M: The cheapest train ticket is hard seat 最便宜的火车票是硬座 zui4 pian2yi de huo3che1 piao4 shi4 ying4zuo4.

S: But I want to sleep 但是我要睡觉 dan4 shi4, wo3 yao4 shui4jiao4.

M: Ok, so buy hard sleeper. 好，那就买硬卧车票。Na4jiu4 mai3 ying4wo4 che1piao4.

S: Is hard sleeper comfortable? 硬卧舒服吗? Ying4wo4 shu1fu ma?

M: So so 马马虎虎 ma3mahuhu.

S: only so so! ‘Horse horse tiger tiger', ma3mahu3hu.

S: Now let's look at the new stuff. ML asked me…

M: 咱们买哪种票?

S: nei3 zhong3 piao4? Nei3, we know is ‘which'. 种 ZHONG zhong3, means ‘kind' or ‘type' zhong3. nei3 zhong3 piao4 what kind of ticket? What kind of ticket shall we buy咱们买哪种票 zan2men mai3 nei3 zhong3 piao4?

M: Of course, Stuart replied –

S: The cheapest! 最便宜的 zui4 pian2yi de.

M: 最便宜的火车票是硬座 huo3che1 piao4, train ticket, huo3che1piao4. 硬座 YING ZUO, both fourth tone, ying4zuo4. Ying4 means ‘hard', not in the sense of ‘difficult'. ‘Hard' as in Stuart's head is very hard, Stuart de tou2 hen3 ying4.

S: I'll ignore that! And ying4zuo4 is ‘hard seat'. Now everybody say with ML, the cheapest train ticket is hard seat.

M: 最便宜的火车票是硬座. Zui4 pian2yi de huo3che1 piao4 shi4 ying4zuo4. Huo3che1piao4, train ticket.

S: But I want to sleep! 但是我要睡觉 shui4jiao4, remember, is ‘sleep' shui4jiao4.

M: 好，那就买硬卧车票。 卧，WO wo4, fourth tone, literally means ‘to lie down', and ying4wo4 means ‘hard sleeper' ying4wo4. Ok, then buy hard sleeper. Hao3, na4jiu4 mai3 ying4wo4 che1piao4.

S: I'm very delicate, so I asked, 硬卧舒服吗? 舒服, SHU FU shu1fu2, comfortable. So everybody ask, Is hard sleeper comfortable? Hen3 hao3. 硬卧舒服吗Ying4wo4 shu1fu2 ma?

M: So so. 马马虎虎, literally ‘horse horse tiger tiger'. And it means ‘so so', ma3ma huhu.

S: And to end, here's our chat again.
(M: 咱们去哪儿 zan2men qu4 nar3?

S: 咱们去上海，好不好 zan2men qu4 Shang4hai3, hao3 bu4 hao3?)

M: 咱们买哪种票zan2men mai3 nei3 zhong3 piao4?

S: 买最便宜的 mai3 zui4 pian2yi de.

M: 最便宜的火车票是硬座 zui4 pian2yi de huo3che1 piao4 shi4 ying4zuo4.

S: 但是, 我要睡觉 dan4 shi4, wo3 yao4 shui4jiao4.

M: 好，那就买硬卧车票 hao3, na4jiu4 mai3 ying4wo4 che1piao4.

S: 硬卧舒服吗 ying4wo4 shu1fu2 ma?

M: 马马虎虎 ma3ma huhu.

S: I'll have to think about it. See you tomorrow!

M: Zai4 jian4.