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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.
****************

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.

  Coryright 2007 cchello.com 
                                                                                   www.cchello.com
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?
****************

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
Chinese@crifm.com. That’s Chinese@crifm.com. 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!

  Coryright 2007 cchello.com