Learn about measure words, money, and the Chinese convenience store
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Amber: Hey, everybody! I’m Amber. |
| Victor: 大家好。 (Dàjiā hǎo.) I’m Victor. |
| Amber: And welcome back to Gengo Chinese. This is Lesson 9. |
| Victor: Yeah, your one-stop shop for all your Chinese needs. |
| Amber: Mmm, so today, Victor, we have a quintessential Chinese experience, I think. |
| Victor: Oh, how I miss the convenience stores. |
| Amber: I mean the bus was, but the convenience store is maybe even more... |
| Victor: Many convenience stores in China. |
| Amber: A real part of life in China. |
| Victor: Oh, how I miss the convenience stores of China. |
| Amber: Yes. I think one-thing amazing is how much they can pack in, to such a small space. Because seriously, everything you need is in there. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: Like from, thinking, underwear to like cuttlefish, potato chips, things that you didn’t even know existed. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: They’re all in there. |
| Victor: They got to be creative. They don’t have a lot of space, right? So they got to be conscious of space. |
| Amber: Right, right. We’ll see what Mike finds to buy, but we’ll start by first reviewing the last lesson where we assumed Mike successfully located and bought a bus ticket to the city from the airport. |
| Victor: Yep, and we learned… |
| Amber: If he’s still alive. |
| Victor: And we learned how to ask the time, 几点钟 (jǐ diǎn zhōng). |
| Amber: Right, or you can even shorten it and just say 几点 (jǐ diǎn). |
| Victor: And we also got an introduction to the measure words in Chinese. |
| Amber: Yes, and remember what it was in Chinese? You need a measure word between a number and a noun |
| Victor: Correct, and like his bus ticket... 一张票 (yī zhāng piào). |
| Amber: Right, or the money… |
| Victor: 6块钱 (shíliù kuài qián) |
| Amber: Right, so have no fear. Today's lesson, we have even more measure words, so you can get a real hang of them. |
| VIctor: And we can’t forget to mention the verb for getting what you want, which is 要 (yào). |
| Amber: Right. Okay, what I want is or 我要 (wǒ yào), listen to today’s dialogue. |
| Victor: Okay, let’s do it! |
| Amber: So, just to let you know, in today’s dialogue, we’re going to learn more about measure words in Chinese. |
| Victor: Yep. This conversation takes place in a convenience store. |
| Amber: And it’s between the clerk and Mike who is the customer. Let’s listen! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Clerk: 欢迎光临! (Huānyíng guānglín !) |
| (Mike places items on counter) |
| Clerk: 三瓶水，一瓶果汁，一包饼干。 (Sān píng shuǐ, yì píng guǒzhī, yì bāo bǐnggān.) |
| Mike: 那是什么？ (Nà shì shénme?) |
| Clerk: 这是茶叶蛋，很好吃。 (Zhè shì cháyè dàn, hěn hǎochī.) |
| Mike: 给我一个。多少钱？ (Gěi wǒ yí gè. Duōshǎo qián ?) |
| Clerk: 一共24块。 (Yígòng èrshísì kuài.) |
| Mke: 好，谢谢。 (Hǎo, xièxie.) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 慢速. (Chóngfù yīcì, màn sù.) |
| Amber: One more time, a little slower. |
| Clerk: 欢迎光临! (Huānyíng guānglín !) |
| (Mike places items on counter) |
| Clerk: 三瓶水，一瓶果汁，一包饼干。 (Sān píng shuǐ, yì píng guǒzhī, yì bāo bǐnggān.) |
| Mike: 那是什么？ (Nà shì shénme?) |
| Clerk: 这是茶叶蛋，很好吃。 (Zhè shì cháyè dàn, hěn hǎochī.) |
| Mike: 给我一个。多少钱？ (Gěi wǒ yí gè. Duōshǎo qián ?) |
| Clerk: 一共24块。 (Yígòng èrshísì kuài.) |
| Mke: 好，谢谢。 (Hǎo, xièxie.) |
| Victor: 重复一次, 加英文翻译. (Chóngfù yīcì, jiā yīngwén fānyì.) |
| Amber: One more time, with the English. |
| Clerk: 欢迎光临! (Huānyíng guānglín!) |
| Amber: Welcome! |
| (Mike places items on counter) |
| Clerk: 三瓶水，一瓶果汁，一包饼干。 (Sān píng shuǐ, yì píng guǒzhī, yì bāo bǐnggān.) |
| Amber: Three bottles of water, one bottle of juice, one package of cookies. |
| Mike: 那是什么？ (Nà shì shénme?) |
| Amber: What is that? |
| Clerk: 这是茶叶蛋，很好吃。 (Zhè shì cháyè dàn, hěn hǎochī.) |
| Amber: This is a tea egg. It's delicious. |
| Mike: 给我一个。多少钱？ (Gěi wǒ yí gè. Duōshǎo qián?) |
| Amber: Give me one. How much? |
| Clerk: 一共24块。 (Yígòng èrshísì kuài.) |
| Amber: Altogether it's 24 RMB. |
| Mke: 好，谢谢。 (Hǎo, xièxie.) |
| Amber: OK, thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Amber: So, a little bit more on convenience stores, Victor. Just, I mean we have to follow that dialogue with it. I mean, I’m, I’m a, I’m a fan. I’m a fan. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: Even Taiwan, every block, sometimes there’s three 7/11's in one block. I’m not joking here. Taiwan is especially a fan of convenience stores and I love them because in the summer, they are the most air conditioned place in the city. |
| Victor: Oh, okay. |
| Amber: But anyways, first, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Victor: 欢迎光临 (huānyíng guānglín) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: welcome |
| Victor: 欢迎光临 (huānyíng guānglín) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 欢迎光临 (huānyíng guānglín) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 瓶 (píng) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: (measure word for bottles) |
| Victor: 瓶 (píng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 瓶 (píng) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 水 (shuǐ) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: water |
| Victor: 水 (shuǐ) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 水 (shuǐ) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 果汁 (guǒzhī) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: juice |
| Victor: 果汁 (guǒzhī) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 果汁 (guǒzhī) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 包 (bāo) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: (measure word for package) |
| Victor: 包 (bāo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 包 (bāo) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 饼干 (bǐnggān) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: cookie, biscuit |
| Victor: 饼干 (bǐnggān) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 饼干 (bǐnggān) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 那 (nà) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: that |
| Victor: 那 (nà) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 那 (nà) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 是 (shì) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to be |
| Victor: 是 (shì) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 是 (shì) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 什么 (shénme) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: what |
| Victor: 什么 (shénme) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 什么 (shénme) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 这 (zhè) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: this |
| Victor: 这 (zhè) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 这 (zhè) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 茶 (chá) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: tea |
| Victor: 茶 (chá) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 茶 (chá) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 叶 (yè) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: leaf |
| Victor: 叶 (yè) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 叶 (yè) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 好吃 (hǎochī) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: delicious |
| Victor: 好吃 (hǎochī) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 好吃 (hǎochī) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 给 (gěi) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: to give |
| Victor: 给 (gěi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 给 (gěi) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 个 (ge) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: measure word |
| Victor: 个 (ge) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 个 (ge) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 多少 (duōshǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: how much, how many |
| Victor: 多少 (duōshǎo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 多少 (duōshǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 钱 (qián) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: money |
| Victor: 钱 (qián) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 钱 (qián) [natural native speed] |
| Victor: 一共 (yígòng) [natural native speed] |
| Amber: all together |
| Victor: 一共 (yígòng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Victor: 一共 (yígòng) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Amber: Okay, let's have a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases. So, remember before, we talked about some welcome greetings. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: Well now, you get to hear one live! In fact, every time you step into a convenience store, you will hear one live. |
| Victor: Yes. They do this all the time. |
| Amber: To the point where you want to bang your head against the wall. What is it, Victor? |
| Victor: 欢迎光临! (Huānyíng guānglín!) |
| Amber: What does it mean? I remember for years, I wondered what the heck does that mean? |
| Victor: It’s basically “welcome” but it’s generally… |
| Amber: I think it’s just like a glorified welcome. |
| Victor: It’s generally used for stores, you know, to customers that, you know, you’re welcome to be here. |
| Amber: Yeah. It’s just like a greeting. |
| Victor: And we’ll guarantee you, if you go to China, you’ll hear this all the time. |
| Amber: Yes. And what are the tones on that, Victor? |
| Victor: 欢 (Huān) is 1st tone, 迎 (yíng) is 2nd tone, 光 (guāng) is 1st tone, and 临 (lín) is 2nd tone. |
| Amber: Right! So there will be many more where that came from, so don’t worry. Don’t memorize this phrase. |
| Victor: Yeah, people just say… |
| Amber: You have no choice. |
| Victor: Right! |
| Amber: It will be burned into your brain. |
| Victor: They just say it to you, right in front of your faces. |
| Amber: Yeah. Okay so… |
| Victor: Well also, of course, we heard about the beloved 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn) or your beloved 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn), Amber. |
| Amber: Yes, I love it! And it’s funny because this is another marker of a convenience store in China, is the smell, when you walk in the door. You will never forget the smell of the brown simmering eggs. It’s coming from the brown simmering eggs, and for some reason, every convenience store has this pot of these scary-looking eggs. |
| Victor: But this is good. I like it too. |
| Amber: But you know what, the first time, when I like got over sort of the mental barrier in Taiwan, they are delicious. |
| Victor: Yes, they are! |
| Amber: And now when I go to convenience stores in America, I’m just really depressed that they don’t have the brown simmering eggs. Now, this 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn) is kind of a cool thing to learn as well, not just because they’re delicious, but because there’s three good words in this one description. |
| Victor: Correct. So, 蛋 (dàn) is the word for “egg” and it’s 4th tone. |
| Amber: Right. The thing is we just have a generic egg term in English, but Chinese like a lot of different types of eggs. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: So, particularly, for chicken egg, you’ll probably hear sometimes, you can refer to it as… |
| Victor: 鸡蛋 (jīdàn) |
| Amber: Right. |
| Victor: Probably, the most famous. |
| Amber: You will encounter other eggs, but we won’t get into those yet... the classic chicken egg. Now, in this case though, we heard something different. We heard the 蛋 (dàn), you know it’s an egg, but we hear in front of it… |
| Victor: It’s 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn). |
| Amber: Right and what is the, what are these words, 茶叶 (cháyè)? |
| Victor: Yeah. Well, 茶 (chá) is the word for “tea” and it’s a 2nd tone, 茶 (chá). |
| Amber: Mmm. |
| Victor: And the word, the second word is 叶 (yè), which is for “leaf” and it’s a 4th tone. |
| Amber: So, something is giving me a hint that this brown simmering eggs quite possibly are made from tea leaves. Would I be correct in that sense? |
| Victor: I think they’re cooked with tea leaves, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Amber: Yeah, I think they’re simmered in that. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: They’re very delicious. Okay, so let’s look at what else he bought. I think we’re getting too stuck on the egg. What else was there? |
| Victor: We heard 水 (shuǐ). |
| Amber: Uh, very important as well. |
| Victor: Yeah, there you go. That’s H2O. It’s “water” and it’s a 3rd tone. |
| Amber: Yes. Related to water, we also heard the word for “juice.” |
| Victor: 果汁 (guǒzhī). 果 (guǒ) is a 3rd tone, 汁 (zhī) is 1st tone. |
| Amber: Right! And what would juice be without some cookies. We heard the word for “cookies.” |
| Victor: 饼干 (bǐnggān). 饼 (bǐng) is 3rd tone, 干 (gān) is 1st tone. |
| Amber: Right! So, all of these wonderful foods we had in the convenience store and we would like to say, it’s delicious. How do we say that, Victor? |
| Victor: 很好吃 (hěn hàochī) |
| Amber: Yes! I think that the clerk in the store was really dang good selling, you know, selling pitch on the 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn). |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: He was saying, it was 很好吃 (hěn hàochī). |
| Victor: Yeah. It’s a very useful phrase. If you ever get treated to a Chinese family, if you say that, you know. |
| Amber: Hmm, just repeat that. |
| Victor: You’ll be invited back next time. |
| Amber: That’s right. |
| Victor: We guarantee that. |
| Amber: So it’s kind of good to learn this phrase as well because the verb for “to eat” is in there, 吃 (chī), 1st tone. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: And 很好 (hěn hào), this means “very good.” So delicious is literally “very good to eat.” |
| Victor: Very good to eat. So, all this food brings us to another important phrase. |
| Amber: Yes, which is… |
| Victor: How much does it cost? |
| Amber: Mm-hmm. |
| Victor: 多少钱？ (Duōshǎo qián?) |
| Amber: Right. It seems like Mike is going on a little bit of a crazy shopping spree here. So, 多少钱 (duōshǎo qián) is a very important phrase as well, in China, you’ll use often. What are the tones on that? |
| Victor: 多 (duō) is 1st tone, 少 (shǎo) is a 3rd tone. |
| Amber: And that means “how much.” |
| Victor: Yes, and 钱 (qián) is a 2nd tone. |
| Amber: And we learned that that is the word for “money” in the last lesson. |
| Victor: Money. Well, I think a nice part is that convenience stores are also very cheap in China. |
| Amber: Yeah, actually, let’s do comparison, cost comparison, Victor. What does the 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn) egg, “brown simmering egg” cost in China? |
| Victor: It’s probably 五毛钱 (wǔmáo qián), right, like half Chinese Yuan. |
| Amber: I think it’s higher in Shanghai. |
| Victor: Really? |
| Amber: I think it’s like one 块 (kuài). |
| Victor: Oh, really? |
| Amber: It depends where you are. |
| Victor: It depends where you are, I guess. |
| Amber: Prices are at a premium in Shanghai. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: But regardless, how much is that? I mean that’s like a negligible amount of money. |
| Victor: That’s like 12 cents or something like that, right? |
| Amber: Yeah. I don’t even think I can buy a raw egg here with 12 cents, so it’s a good deal. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: If you need cheap nutrition, you’re suited in China. Maybe you’re scared to eat on the street, go for the 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn). |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: So his grand total was, “all together,” the clerk uses that word to let him know it’s all together. What word was that? |
| Victor: 一共 (yígòng) |
| Amber: Right, and what are the tones there? |
| Victor: It’s 一共 (yígòng); 一 (yí) here is 2nd tone and 共 (gòng) is 4th tone. |
| Amber: Right! Actually, the 一 (yí) is a 1st tone, but because of the tone-change rules, that changes to 2nd tone. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: So you pronounce it 一共 (yígòng). That means “all together.” Okay, so what was his grand total then? Do you remember, Victor? |
| Victor: I think all his stuff was 24, 24 bucks. |
| Amber: Right! And how do you say it in Chinese? |
| Victor: 二十四块钱 (Èrshísì kuài qián) |
| Amber: Right. And that was pretty cheap. It’s like 3 bucks for all that. |
| Victor: Yeah. It’s pretty good, right? |
| Amber: Yeah, well, back in the day. Those were the days, Victor! Okay. Now, let’s look at some of the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Victor: Today’s dialogue has quite a few occurrences of something that is very Chinese grammar matter. |
| Amber: Yes. Okay, as promised, we mentioned we would revisit the measure words. So today’s lesson has quite a few instances where we hear measure words, so we’re gonna learn a few new measure words that go with different types of objects. |
| Victor: Yeah. So let’s go back to the list of things that he bought. |
| Amber: Right. |
| Victor: The clerk didn’t say just 三水 (sān shuǐ), 一果汁 (yī guǒzhī), or whatever. |
| Amber: Yeah, which would have been like “3 waters,” “1 juice,” no, no. You can’t do it like in English. |
| Victor: Yeah. You’ll sound like a 5-year-old. |
| Amber: Yes. Because there’s a quantity of something involved, Chinese needs the measure word. So, remember, we mentioned the English measure words are kind of similar. We have… a loaf of bread, a flock of seagulls, kind of like that? |
| Victor: So here, we heard 三瓶水 (sān píng shuǐ) and 一瓶果汁 (yì píng guǒzhī). |
| Amber: Right! So remember, it was (number + the measure word + the object). So each noun will have its own measure word associated with it. Now, a little side point, there’s not gonna be necessarily a lot of rhyme or reason, but you just kind of need to memorize which measure word goes to which object. |
| Victor: Right. Right, so in this case, and the measure word for a bottle of (something) is 瓶 (píng). |
| Amber: Right, 瓶 (píng) which is 2nd tone. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
| Amber: So he got... |
| Victor: 三瓶水 (sān píng shuǐ) |
| Amber: Right, not just 三水 (sān shuǐ), no. We have to say 三瓶水 (sān píng shuǐ). |
| Victor: Correct. |
| Amber: Which is “3 bottles of water.” |
| Victor: And 一瓶果汁 (yì píng guǒzhī). |
| Amber: Which is “1 bottle of juice.” |
| Victor: 一包饼干 ( yì bāo bǐnggān). |
| Amber: Uh, here’s a different one, “1 package of cookies.” The measure word for “package” here being 包 (bāo), which is 1st tone. |
| Victor: Right. And we hear it again when he asks for a “tea egg” 茶叶蛋 (cháyè dàn). |
| Amber: Yes. He says, “give me one.” What does he say? |
| Victor: 给我一个。 (Gěi wǒ yí gè.) |
| Amber: Right! So, he doesn’t just say “give me one” like English, 给我一 (gěi wǒ yí). No, you have to add that 个 (gè). |
| Victor: Correct. |
| Amber: And in this case, 个 (gè) is the measure word for, we can use for “egg.” And really, 个 (gè) is the most common measure word. It can go with a lot more nouns than the other measure words can. So, if you’re ever in doubt, you could probably refer back to 个 (gè), but it might not be correct, but people will probably understand you better than no measure word at all. |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: And another side point too from him asking for the egg, you’ll notice he just said 给我一个。 (gěi wǒ yí gè.) He didn’t say the noun. So, you can leave the noun off and just use the measure word. That’s another side point. |
| Victor: Correct. |
| Amber: So like even with money, we did mention that people, sometimes, they’ll say 6块钱 (shíliù kuài qián), but sometimes, they’ll just leave off the noun, which is the 钱 qián, the “money.” |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: And they’ll just say 6块 (shíliù kuài). Chinese love their abbreviations. All right. Now, there’s ONE MORE little, little grammar point we can bring out. |
| Victor: Yeah, very light after all that. |
| Amber: Right and it’s about “this” and “that.” |
| Victor: Yeah, in this dialogue, we hear Mike asks, “What is that?” |
| Amber: Right, pointing to the brown simmering egg, a question, probably, many times asked before. |
| Victor: You’ll be asking this question many, many times. |
| Amber: A very useful phrase. |
| Victor: What is that? And we hear the clerk say… |
| Amber: “A brown simmering egg.” |
| Victor: Yeah. So, the word for “that” in Chinese is 那 (nà). 那 (nà) is a 4th tone. |
| Amber: And so, to ask, “What is that?” just like Mike did, what do we say? |
| Victor: 那是什么？ (Nà shì shénme?) |
| Amber: Right! So it’s just like English. “That to be (or is) what.” |
| Victor: Right. |
| Amber: The word for what comes last. So, as a side point, there is a little tip about “that” that I have to mention in Chinese, Victor, which is… you can say it two ways, but you can choose which way you like. |
| Victor: Yeah, some people say 那 (nà) and others will say (nèi). |
| Amber: Right and why, Victor? Why? Why are there two? |
| Victor: I’m not quite sure. It just, it just happens. |
| Amber: It kind of just depends what you’re used to, what area you’re from. |
| Victor: You’re right. |
| Amber: Kind of an accent thing. |
| Victor: So, 那个 (nàgè) or (nèiga). |
| Amber: Right. Victor, which one do you like? |
| Victor: Um… |
| Amber: I’m kind of 那个 (nàgè) on myself. |
| Victor: Yeah? I think, naturally, I would say (nèiga). |
| Amber: Oh! |
| Victor: Because maybe a north and south thing. I’m not sure, maybe. |
| Amber: Possibly, possibly. I’m more of a southern girl. Okay, so, we heard, “What is that?” Now, what about the answer? Of course, the clerk is going to say, “This is (something).” |
| Victor: 这是。。。(Zhè shì...) |
| Amber: Uh, does the 这 (zhè) have multiple personalities as well? |
| Victor: Yeah, it can (zhè) or (zhèi). |
| Amber: Right. Both are 4th tone. |
| Victor: Right. So, (zhègè) or (zhèigè). |
| Amber: Right. You got options in Chinese. Be grateful for options. If you forget one, you’ll remember the other. |
| Victor: Yeah. |
Outro |
| Amber: Okay, everybody, that’s it for today’s lesson, express yourself with your (this)s (that)s and we’re gonna take one more listen to the dialogue and until next time, 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
| Victor: 再见。(Zàijiàn.) |
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