Taiwanese Mandarin Survival Phrases Lesson 19: Taking a Taxi |
In this lesson, you will learn useful phrases for taking a taxi, including giving directions to get to your destination. |
In Chinese, 到(dào) means "to arrive.” |
We can put 到(dào) in front of a location to say we want to go to that place. |
For example, to say, “I want to go to Taipei Main Station,” you can say 到(dào) plus the name of the station. 到台北車站(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn). |
The word “station” will always come before the city name. |
Here is another example: |
In the city 台中(Táizhōng), you would say 台中車站(Táizhōng chē zhàn). |
Let’s break it down by tone: |
到(dào) is in fourth tone. |
台北(Táiběi) is second tone and third tone |
車站(chē zhàn) is first tone and fourth tone. |
Let’s break it down by meaning: |
到(dào) means “to arrive” |
台北(Táiběi) is Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. |
車站(chē zhàn) is the word for station. |
站(zhàn) alone can also mean station. |
Altogether, we have 到台北車站(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn). |
Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
[Slow] 到台北車站(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn). |
[Normal] 到台北車站(Dào Táiběi chē zhàn). |
In Chinese, if you want to say, “I want to go to...” you can say 我想去(Wǒ xiǎng qù). |
Let’s break it down by tone: |
我(Wǒ) is in third tone |
想 (xiǎng) is in third tone |
去 (qù) is in fourth tone. |
Remember when we have two third tones in a row, the first one becomes a second, rising tone. |
Altogether, we have 我想去(Wó xiǎng qù)... |
Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
[Slow] 我想去(Wó xiǎng qù)... |
[Normal] 我想去(Wó xiǎng qù)... |
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