9 Unit 2

9.1 References

9.1.1 Reference List

1. A: Wǒ xiǎng mǎi diǎnr diǎnxin.
我想买点儿点心。
I'm going to buy some pastries.
2. A: Zheìge xiǎo diǎnxin duōshao qián yìjīn?
这个小点心多少钱一经?
How much are these small pastries per catty?
B: Bāmáo qián yìjīn.
八毛钱一斤 。
Eighty cents a catty.
3. A: Gěi wǒ liǎngjīn.
给我两斤 。
Give me two catties.
4. A: Qǐng nǐ gěi wǒ liǎngjīn.
清李给我两斤 。
Please give me two catties.
5. B: Nín hái yào diǎnr shénme?
您还要点儿什么?
What else do you want?
A: Wǒ hái yào qìshuǐ.
我还要汽水
I want some soda.
6. A: Duōshao qián yìpíng?
多少钱一平?
How much is it per bottle?
B: Liǎngmáo wǔfēn qián.
两毛五分钱。
It's twenty-five cents.
7. A: Zhèi shi sānkuài qián.
这是三块钱。
Here's three dollars.
B: Zhǎo nǐ liùmáo wǔfēn qián.
找你牛六毛五分钱。
Here's sixty-five cents (in) change.
A: Xièxie. Zàijiàn.
谢谢。再见。
Thank you. Good-bye
B: Zàijiàn.
再见。
Good-bye
8. A: Dà píngguǒ duōshao qián yìjīn?
大苹果多少钱一斤??
How much are the large apples per catty?
B: Dàde sìmáo wǔfēn qián yìjīn.
大的四毛五分钱一经。
The large ones are forty-five cents a catty.
9. A: Xiǎode duōshao qián yìjinq?
小的多少钱一经?
How much per catty are the small ones?
B: Sānmáo wǔ.
三毛五。
Thirty-five cents.
10. A: Qǐng gěi wǒ sānjīn nèige xiǎode.
清给我三经那个小的。
Please give me three catties of the small ones.
B: Hǎo. Sānjīn yíkuài líng wǔ.
好。三经一块零五。
Certainly. Three catties are $1.05.
11. B: Nín hái yào shénme?
您还要什么?
What else do you want?
A: Wǒ búyào shénme le.
我不要什么了。
I don't want anything else.

9.1.2 Vocabulary

júzi 橘子 oranges, tangerines
píjiǔ 啤酒 beer
yíkuài féizào 一块肥皂 one bar of soap
zuò mǎimai 做买卖 to do business
dàrén 大人 adult
xiǎoháizi 小孩子 child
to be large
-de marker of modification
diǎnr 点儿 a little, some
diǎnxin (yíkuài, yìjīn) 点心 (一块,一斤) pastry, snack
-fēn cent
gěi to give
hái also, additionally
-jīn catty (1.1 pound)
-kuài piece (counter)
líng zero
mǎimai 买卖 business
-máo dime
-píng bottle
píngguǒ 苹果 apple
qǐng please
qìshuǐ 汽水 soda, carbonated soft drink
xiǎo to be small
xiǎohaízi 小孩子 child
yào to want
zàijiàn 再见 good-bye
zhǎo to give change
zuò mǎimai 做买卖 to do business
gōngxiāo hézuòshè 供销合作社 supply and marketing cooperative

9.1.3 Reference Notes

9.1.3.1 Notes on №1
1. A: Wǒ xiǎng mǎi diǎnr diǎnxin.
我想买点儿点心。
I'm going to buy some pastries.

Diǎnr: The word yìdiǎnr (or yìdiǎn) is a combination of the number , "one," and the counter diǎn, "a dot", "a little bit." The number is often toneless, or, in this case, dropped when its meaning is "a" rather than "one".

The Běijīng version of this word, written diǎnr or yīdiǎnr is actually pronounced as if written diǎr or yídiǎr. These words rhyme with the English "tar,"

9.1.3.2 Notes on №2
2. A: Zheìge xiǎo diǎnxin duōshao qián yìjīn?
这个小点心多少钱一斤?
How much are these small pastries per catty?
B: Bāmáo qián yìjīn.
八毛钱一斤。
Eighty cents a catty.

A jīn is a unit of weight, usually translated as "catty." In most

parts of China a jīn equals 1.1 pound.

Bāmáo i You must use the equivalent of "eight dimes" to say "eighty cents." It is wrong to say bāshifēn for "eighty cents."

9.1.3.3 Notes on №3-4
3. A: Gěi wǒ liǎngjīn.
给我两斤。
Give me two catties.
4. A: Qǐng nǐ gěi wǒ liǎngjīn.
清李给我两斤。
Please give me two catties.

Indirect object: Notice that the indirect object, , precedes the direct object, liǎngjīn, just as "me" precedes "two catties" in English.

Gěi liǎngjīn.
Give me two catties.

Polite request: A blunt imperative in Chinese has the same word order as a command in English: (), verb, indirect object, direct object. To make a polite request in Chinese, start off with qǐng, "please," or qǐng nǐ "please you." More literally qǐng means "to ask," "to request," but the idiomatic equivalent of qǐng and qǐng nǐ is "please." Here are the three types of imperatives.

gěi liǎngjīn. Give me two catties.
Qǐng gěi liǎngjīn. Please give me two catties OR Give me two catties, please.
Qǐng gěi liǎngjīn.
9.1.3.4 Notes on №5
5. B: Nín hái yào diǎnr shénme?
您还要点儿什么?
What else do you want?
A: Wǒ hái yào qìshuǐ.
我还要汽水
I want some soda.

Hái: in exchange 5, hái something like "in addition": "What do you want a little of in addition?" Since hái is an adverb, it is placed before the verb.

Qìshuǐ, "soda," refers to a carbonated soft drink, not to club soda.

9.1.3.5 Notes on №6
6. A: Duōshao qián yìpíng?
多少钱一瓶?
How much is it per bottle?
B: Liǎngmáo wǔfēn qián.
两毛五分钱。
It's twenty-five cents.

Tone change for : The number 1, , changes tone when followed by another syllable. When followed by a syllable with a Falling tone, has a Rising tone. When followed "by syllables with High, Rising, or Low tones, has a Falling tone.

High Tone follows Rising Tone follows Low Tone follows Falling Tone follows
yìjīn yìpíng yìběn yífèn
yìzhāng yìmáo yìdiǎn yíkuài
yìzhī yìnián yíyuè
yìtiān

Liǎngmáo wǔfēn qián: Notice that "twenty-five cents" is expressed in Chinese as dimes plus cents: "two dimes and five cents."

9.1.3.6 Notes on №7
7. A: Zhèi shi sānkuài qián.
这是三块钱。
Here's three dollars.
B: Zhǎo nǐ liùmáo wǔfēn qián.
找你六毛五分钱。
Here's sixty-five cents (in) change.
A: Xièxie. Zàijiàn.
谢谢。再见。
Thank you. Good-bye
B: Zàijiàn.
再见。
Good-bye

Zhèi: In the first sentence of exchange 7, zhèi is used without an attached counter. A specifier was also used without a counter in Nèi shi Mínzú Fàndiàn. "That's the Nationalities Hotel."

The verb zhǎo means "to give change." Zhǎo nǐ liùmáo wǔfēn qián means something like "I'm giving you sixty-five cents in change."

9.1.3.7 Notes on №8-9
8. A: Dà píngguǒ duōshao qián yìjīn?
大苹果多少斤?
How much are the large apples per catty?
B: Dàde sìmáo wǔfēn qián yìjīn.
大的四毛五分钱一斤。
The large ones are forty-five cents a catty.
9. A: Xiǎode duōshao qián yìjīn?
小的多少钱一斤?
How much per catty are the small ones?
B: Sānmáo wǔ.
三毛五。
Thirty-five cents.

The words dàde and xiǎode are translated as "large ones" and ""small ones." The nonspecific noun "ones" may be used because the specific thing being talked about (apples) was mentioned in an earlier sentence. The marker -de shows that and xiǎo modify a noun mentioned earlier in the conversation. Like their English translations "big ones" and "small ones," dàde and xiǎode act as nouns.

Sānmáo wǔ is an abbreviated way of giving a price. The last unit of money (ln this case, fēn "cent") and the word for "money," qián are left out. The unit omitted is always the next unit below the unit which is expressed. For instance, "three dollars and fifty cents" is sānkuài wǔ.

You know that the unit omitted is máo "dimes," because it is the next unit below kuài, "dollars." A one-unit price such as "three dollars" or cents"can never be abbreviated this way, because there would he no way of determining the unit marker omitted.

9.1.3.8 Notes on №10
10. A: Qǐng gěi wǒ sānjīn nèige xiǎode.
清给我三经那个小的。
Please give me three catties of the small ones.
B: Hǎo. Sānjīn yíkuài líng wǔ.
好。三经一块零五。
Certainly. Three catties are $1.05.

Sānjīn nèige xiǎode: The elements of this phrase appear in the following order: number, counter, specifier, noun, (in Chinese, units of measure, like jīn, act as counters.) Earlier, you learned phrases whose element a appeared in a different order: specifier, number, counter, noun, (zhèi liǎngzhāng dìtú). In both cases, the word order for the constructions Is the same in Chinese and English.

sān -jīn nèige xiǎode
three catties of those small ones
nèi sān -jīn xiǎode
those three catties of small ones

Zèige is translated as "those" in the first sentence of exchange 10. Strictly speaking, nèige can refer only to one item, since -ge is the counter for units. The apples, however, are regarded collectively as one category of things.

Yíkuài líng wǔ: In a price, the word líng is always used for a "zero" in the dimes position. In yíkuài líng wǔ, líng appears in the "dimes" place, so you know that must refer to cents.

9.1.3.9 Notes on №11
11. B: Nín hái yào shénme?
您还要什么?
What else do you want?
A: Wǒ búyào shénme le.
我不要什么了。
I don't want anything else.

Bú yào shenme: The unstressed (and often toneless) word shenme corresponds to the indefinite pronoun "anything" in negative sentences.

yào shénme? bú yào shénme
You want what thing? I don't want anything.

This construction is commonly used to say "I don't want (I'm not buying, I'm not reading) anything MUCH."

Nǐ mǎi shénme? What are you buying?
Wǒ bù mǎi shenme, zhǐ mǎi yífèn bào. I'm not buying anything much; I'm just buying a newspaper.

Le: In the second sentence of exchange 11, new situation le is used in a negative sentence. The sentence says that NOW Mr. Andersen does not want anything (while before, of course, he did want things.)

12. júzi 橘子 oranges
13. píjiǔ 啤酒 beer
14. yíkuài féizào 一块肥皂 one bar of soap
15. zuò mǎimai 做买卖 to do business
16. dàren 大人 adult
17. xiǎoháizi 小孩子 child
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Notes on Additional Required Vocabulary

Júzi: In earlier modules, this word would have been written jǘzi. Starting in the Money Module, the umlaut (") will be written only after n and l, following the normal spelling rule in Pinyin romanization. You will have to remember that the letter u after j, q, x, and y is pronounced as if it were written ü.

Yíkuài féizào: The counter used for soap is -kuài. It literally means "a lump" but is also translated as a "piece."

Zuò mǎimai, "to do business/trade"

Tā lái zuò mǎimai le. He has come to do business.
Dàren, "adult," literally, "big person"

Tā yǐjīng shi dàren le. He is already an adult.

Xiǎoháizi: Although háizi means "child," the expression more commonly used is xiǎohāizi, literally, "small child."

9.2 Drills

9.2.1 

9.2.2 

9.2.3 

9.2.4 

9.2.5 

9.2.6 

9.2.7 

9.2.8 

9.2.9 

9.2.10