Chinese Studio 汉语对话 Lesson 058 What Do You Want to Buy?

Yajie: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day. Welcome to Chinese Studio. 我是Yajie。
Cam: Wo Shi Cam. Da4 Jia1 Hao3. I’m planning to go shopping in a typical Chinese market later this week..
Yajie: Cool. So what do you want to buy?
Cam:  Well, let’s hear key words of the day.

Key Words of the Day
What do you want to buy? 你要买什么？蔬菜，vegetable. 西红柿, tomato, 水果，fruit. 西瓜, watermelon, 肉，meat. 牛肉，beef. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Yajie: What do you want to buy? 你要买什么(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me)？你 is you, 要, want to 买, to buy, 什么 means what. 你要买什么?
Cam: 你要买什么(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me) Actually I’d like to buy some vegetables. 
Yajie: So you want to buy蔬菜(shu1 cai4)，vegetable. 蔬, sh-u, the first tone. 菜, c-ai, the fourth tone. 蔬菜(shu1 cai4)，vegetable.
Cam: 蔬菜(shu1 cai4).

Conversation1:

Cam: 你要买什么(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me)? This is a general way to ask what you want to buy. But we can make this question more specific. 
Yajie: For example, with 蔬菜(shu1 cai4)，vegetable, 你要买什么蔬菜(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me shu1 cai4)？which means what kind of vegetable do you want to buy?
Cam: 你要买什么蔬菜(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me shu1 cai4)？
Yajie: Very good. So Cam, what’s the meaning of 你要买什么水果(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me shui3 guo3)？
Cam: What fruit do you want to buy?
Yajie: Right. Here is a new word for our listeners. 水果(shui3 guo3), fruit. 你要买什么水果(ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me shui3 guo3)？What fruit do you want to buy?Cam, then how do you say “Which meat do you want to buy?” in Chinese. First I can tell you that meat in Chinese is 肉,( rou4), the fourth tone. 肉.
Cam: 肉,( rou4). Hmm… I think that would be你要买什么肉((ni3 yao4 mai3 shen2 me rou4)？
Yajie: Excellent!

Conversation2:

Yajie: So Cam, what kind of vegetables do you want to buy? 你要买什么蔬菜
Cam: How do you say “I want to buy three tomatoes” in Chinese?
Yajie: OK. We learned three is 三(san1). Tomato would be 西红柿（xi1 hong2 shi4） together it’s我要买三个西红柿.（wo3 yao4 mai3 san1 ge4 xi1 hong2 shi4）
Cam: 我要买三个西红柿.（wo3 yao4 mai3 san1 ge4 xi1 hong2 shi4）I want to buy three tomatoes. Besides, I also want to buy a watermelon and some beef. Yajie, How do I say them in Chinese?
Yajie: Hang on. We have to learn watermelon and beef first. Watermelon is 西瓜 , and beef is 牛肉。
Cam: 西瓜 (xi1 gua1) watermelon. 牛肉(niu2 rou4) beef.
Yajie: 我要买一个西瓜(wo3 yao4 mai3 yi1 ge xi1 gua1)。I want to buy a watermelon.
Cam: 我要买一个西瓜(wo3 yao4 mai3 yi1 ge xi1 gua1)。
Yajie: 我要买一块牛肉(wo3 yao4 mai3 yi1 kuai4 niu2 rou4)。I want to buy a piece of beef.
Cam: 我要买一块牛肉(wo3 yao4 mai3 yi1 kuai4 niu2 rou4)。

Conversation3:

Cam：Now, Yajie, I noticed that there are different measure words in each sentence.
Yajie: That’s one of the most difficult parts while learning Chinese. But don’t worry, we can start by remembering these fruits and vegetables.
Cam: OK, let’s have a quick review before we finish up today’s program.


Key Words Reminder
What do you want to buy? 你要买什么？蔬菜，vegetable. 西红柿, tomato, 水果，fruit. 西瓜, watermelon, 肉，meat. 牛肉，beef.