Chinese Studio 汉语对话 Lesson 027 Bargaining

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to our Chinese Studio. 早上好 everybody, I’m Yajie.
Cam: And I’m Cam. 早上好(zǎoshang hǎo). What shall we learn today?
Yajie: Last time we learned some expressions when shopping. 元(yuan), 角(jiao), 分(fen).
Cam: 元(yuan), 角(jiao), 分(fen). I also remember 块 (kuai) and 毛 (mao), like六块(liu kuai) and 一毛(yi mao)..
Yajie: Right. 六块(liu kuai) is six yuan ，and一毛(yi mao) is 0.1 yuan.
Cam: OK. Then if I want to buy something, I can ask the seller in Chinese “这个多少钱？” (zhège duōshao qián?) How much is it? Right?
Yajie: Exactly. 这个多少钱？How much is it? If you are not satisfied with the price, In China, you can begin bargaining, and that is what we are going to learn today.
 
***************Key words of the day
Today we’ll learn expressions for bargaining, and they are: 太贵了，能不能便宜点儿？That’s too expensive. Could it be a little bit cheaper? All in today’s Chinese Studio.
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Yajie: When you visit a market in China, you may hear the salesperson asking you “您好，您想买什么？”Hello! Can I help you?
Cam: “您好，您想买什么？” (nín hǎo, nín xiǎng mǎi shénme?)
Yajie: 想 means “want to”. 想, x-i-a-n-g, the third tone. 想(xiǎng).
Cam: 想(xiǎng).
Yajie: 买means buy. 买, m-a-i, also the third tone. 买(mǎi).
Cam: 买(mǎi).
Yajie: 什么 (shenme) means what.
Cam: 什么 (shenme).
Yajie: “您想买什么？” (nín xiǎng mǎi shénme?) What do you want to buy? What would you like to buy?
Cam: “您想买什么？” (nín xiǎng mǎi shénme?)

Conversation:

Yajie: If you are not satisfied with the price, you can say “太贵了。能不能便宜点儿？”. That’s too expensive. Could it be a little bit cheaper?
Cam: 太贵了(tai gui le). Tai means “too” t-o-o and gui le means expensive.  Tai gui le.  Too expensive.
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: 便宜点儿 (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)
Yajie: Well, in recent years there are more and more supermarkets and department stores with fixed prices in China. As a result, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for true bargaining.

Conversations:

***************Key words reminder
Today we’ve learned some bargaining expressions, and they are: 太贵了，能不能便宜点儿？That’s too expensive. Could it be a little bit cheaper?
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Yajie: Ok, That’s it for this edition of Chinese Studio.  Our question of the day is
: In Chinese, how do you begin bargaining when you are not satisfied with the price. Please tell us in an email. You may win a CRI special prize.
Cam: You can send us your answer along with any 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.
Yajie: Well, class is over. 再见!
Cam: 再见!