Go Shopping 买东西 Mǎi dōngxī

In this lesson, you are going to learn the essential phrases you are going to use when you go shopping. 

Please translate the following phrases into Chinese:

1. How much...? 
2. Shirt 
3. Red shirt 
4. That red shirt
5. How much is that red shirt?
6. Too expensive!
7. This sweater is too expensive!
8. Can you lower the price?
9. How much would you like to offer?
10. A pair of black pants
11. A pair of brown shoes
12. A pair of white socks
13. A grey suit
14. A blue jacket
15. Half kilograms
16. One yuan for one jin
17. One jin of tomatoes
18. To buy
19. Want to buy two jins of apples
20. Bought two jins of strawberry
21. Total
22. How much in total?
23. Fifty cents
24. Twenty yuan and twenty-two cents

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ANSWER KEYS:

1. How much...? ...多少钱Duōshǎo qián
2. Shirt 衬衫chènshān
3. Red shirt 红色的衬衫hóngsè de chènshān
4. That red shirt 那件红色的衬衫nà jiàn hóngsè de chènshān
5. How much is that red shirt? 那件红色的衬衫多少钱？ Nà jiàn hóngsè de chènshān duōshǎo qián? 
6. Too expensive! 太贵了！Tài guìle!
7. That sweater is too expensive! 那件毛衣太贵了！Nà jiàn máoyī tài guìle!
8. Can you lower the price? 便宜一点儿，可以吗？Piányí yīdiǎn er, kěyǐ ma?
9. How much would you like to offer? 你想给多少钱？ Nǐ xiǎng gěi duōshǎo qián?
10. A pair of black pants 一条黑色的裤子yītiáo hēisè de kùzi
11. A pair of brown shoes 一双棕色的鞋yīshuāng zōngsè de xié
12. A pair of white socks 一双白色的袜子yīshuāng báisè de wàzi
13. A grey suit 一件灰色的西装yī jiàn huīsè de xīzhuāng
14. A pair of blue jeans 一条蓝色的牛仔裤yītiáo lán sè de niúzǎikù
15. Half kilograms 一斤yī jīn
16. One yuan for one jin 一块一斤jin yīkuài yī jīn
17. One jin of tomatoes 一斤西红柿yī jīn xīhóngshì
18. To buy 买mǎi
19. Want to buy two jins of apples 要买两斤苹果yàomǎi liǎng jīn píngguǒ
20. Bought two jins of strawberry 买了两斤草莓mǎile liǎng jīn cǎoméi
21. Total 一共yīgòng
22. How much in total? 一共多少钱？Yīgòng duōshǎo qián?
23. Fifty cents 五毛wǔmáo
24. Twenty yuan and twenty-two cents 二十块两毛二èrshí kuài liǎng máo èr

Cultural Notes:

Why Chinese people say buy “east-west” instead of “north-south”?

by Lewei Shang

In ancient China, people thought that the universe is made from five elements: 金木水火土.

In English, these are: Gold, Soil, Water, Fire, and Wood.  The five elements are located in five directions:  东西南北中. In English, these are: East, West, South, North, and Center.  Gold is in the East, Wood is in the West, Fire is in the South, Water is in the North, and Soil is in the Center, right under our feet.

However, Gold doesn’t mean gold only. It includes everything which is made from metals, or contains metals, such as a knife, car, gun, pan or plow.  Similarly, Wood includes everything which is made from wood, and everything from plants, such as furniture, houses, grains, vegetables and fruits.   In ancient times, all of these were merchandise, and people had to buy them.  But South, North, and Center, or in English, Fire, Water, and Soil were free at that time.  No one paid for those.  Therefore, people in ancient times bought “East-West”, not “North-South” and Center.  Even though Fire, Water, and Soil became valuable, and people eventually had to pay for them, “buy east-west” has become a standard phrase for Chinese.


Reference:

http://rufodao.qq.com/a/20140328/010898.htm
https://leweishang.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-chinese-say-buy-east-west-instead.html