YJ: Wo shi Yajie. It’s time to perfect Chinese your way in only five minutes a day. And this week we are going to talk about …shopping!
Cam: You must’ve picked this topic! I know girls love to shop.
Key Words of the Day
I am looking for a jacket. 我想买一件夹克。(Wo3 xiang3 mai3 yi2 ge4 jia1ke4）What’s your size? 您穿多大的？（nin2 chuan1 duo1 da4 de?）小号，small size. 中号，medium size. 大号，large size. It is too small. 太小了 It’s too big. 太大了. All in today’s Chinese Studio.
Cam: Yajie, I am in dire need of a new jacket. When I go into a shop, how do I say that to a sales person?
YJ: Well, it is wise to buy a cheap jacket now. You can say “我想买一件夹克。(Wo3 xiang3 mai3 yi2 jian4 jia1ke4)”
Cam: 我想买一件夹克。(Wo3 xiang3 mai3 yi2 jian4 jia1ke4)
YJ: 我 (Wo3), I.
Cam: 我 (Wo3)
YJ: 想,x-i-a-n-g, want to.
Cam: 想 (xiang3).
YJ: 买 (mai3), mai, the third tone.
Cam: 买 (mai3). And that means “to buy”, right?
YJ: Right. 买 (mai3), to buy. And 卖(mai4), the fourth tone, means to sell.
Cam: That's tricky,卖(mai4), to sell.
YJ: 一(yi2) means one. 件(jian4) is the measure word for clothes.
Cam: 一件(yi2 jian4)
YJ: 夹克 (jia1ke4) means jacket.
Cam: 夹克 (jia1ke4)
YJ: 我想买一件夹克。(Wo3 xiang3 mai3 yi2 jian4 jia1ke4) I am looking for a jacket.
Cam: 我想买一件夹克。(Wo3 xiang3 mai3 yi2 jian4 jia1ke4).
Conversation1:
Cam: Yajie, how do you say “What’s your size” in Chinese?
YJ: It’s 您穿多大的？（nin2 chuan1 duo1 da4 de?）
Cam: 您穿多大的？（nin2 chuan1 duo1 da4 de?）.
YJ: 您 (nin2), you
Cam: 您 (nin2)
YJ: 穿 (chuan1), c-h-u-a-n, the first tone, means to wear.
Cam: 穿 (chuan1)
YJ: 多大(duo1 da4). Literally it means how large.
Cam: 多大(duo1 da4). 大(da4) means large, and 小(xiao3) means small. They are opposite, right?
YJ: Yes. 您穿多大的？（nin2 chuan1 duo1 da4 de?）. What’s your size?
Cam: 您穿多大的？（nin2 chuan1 duo1 da4 de?）
YJ: Then you can tell the seller your size.
Cam: All right. How do I say that?
YJ: In China, we usually use small, medium, large, and extra large.
Cam: I see. We just learned xiao is small, da is large, right?
YJ: Right, and medium is zhong1, the first tone.
Cam: zhong.
YJ: extra large is jia da
Cam: jia da. I think jia da size will fit me well! Yajie, what’s the Chinese for size.
YJ: it’s hao. So you just need to say small, medium, or large before hao. For example, small size would be xiao hao.
Cam: the medum would be zhong hao. And large would be da hao. Extra-large, jia da hao.
YJ: Very good.
Conversation2:
Cam: Oh, no, Yajie, even though this is an extra large jacket, I think it is a bit too small for me.
YJ: Oh, Cam, you have to lose your beer belly. You can say to sales person, “太小了(Tai4 xiao3 le)”, “太” means very or extremely.
Cam: 太（tai4)
YJ: 太小了
Cam: 太小了
YJ: Now Cam, you may guess what's the Chinese for "too large".
Cam: Well, I would say it's 太大了.
YJ: Right. 太大了(tai4 da4 le). It’s too large.
Cam: 太大了(tai4 da4 le)
