HSK 3Lesson 18
It is a Wednesday evening, and Annie does not want to go back to the market. In her dorm room, Xiaoxue shows her how she shops online: the e-book, the earphones, a bunch of bananas from home, and one very easy mistake on the last page.
You will learn to shop online, read prices in yuan, jiao and mao, talk about weight, and guess a rough number.
Part 1 · 9 new words
Contains 5 words
website
e-book
earphones; headphones
last; finally
to send; to issue
Contains 4 words
kilogram
jiao (a tenth of a yuan; written form of 毛)
Part 2 · 8 phrases
出远门的时候，带一本电子书比带三本书方便。
On a long trip, bringing one e-book is easier than bringing three books.
我在网站上买了书，卖书的人明天发给我。
I bought a book on a website, and the seller will send it to me tomorrow.
听歌的时候用耳机，别人就听不见了。
If you use earphones when you listen to songs, other people can't hear.
苹果一斤五块，一公斤就是十块。
Apples are five kuai a jin, so a kilo is ten kuai.
买书时，网站上写着三元五角，说话时我们说三块五。
When buying a book, the website writes 3.50 yuan, but in speech we say three kuai five.
回家大概要三四个小时，我坐火车去。
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Wednesday evening in Annie's dorm room. Annie wants to buy her class book without going back to the market, and Xiaoxue shows her how she shops.
安妮Annie
小雪，去商场太远了。你在网上买东西吗？
Xiaoxue, the mall is too far. Do you shop online?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
对啊，我都在网站上买。你想买什么？
Yes, I always buy on a website. What do you want to buy?
Part 4 · 4 points
公斤、斤、角、毛、刻、米
Spoken money is 块kuài and 毛máo; written money is 元yuán and 角jiǎo. Weights are 斤jīn and 公斤gōngjīn: one 公斤gōngjīn is two 斤jīn.
Read a price
The first number is 块kuài
mao (a tenth of a yuan; spoken form of 角)
about; roughly; probably
It takes about three or four hours to get home, and I'm going by train.
这是最后一件，卖完了就没有了。
This is the last one. When it's sold, there are no more.
我家附近一个超市也没有，买东西很不方便。
There isn't a single supermarket near my home, so shopping is inconvenient.
上课用的书。王老师说，下星期要带。
The book for class. Teacher Wang says we have to bring it next week.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
买电子书吧！比书店的便宜，而且一点儿也不难买。
Buy the e-book! It's cheaper than the bookshop's, and it isn't hard to buy at all.
安妮Annie
电子书？手机上就能看吗？
An e-book? Can I read it on my phone?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
能啊。你看，这本才二十块。书店里的要五十呢。
Sure. Look, this one is only twenty yuan. The one in the bookshop is fifty.
安妮Annie
太好了！那我一本书也不用带了！
Great! Then I won't have to carry a single book!
Annie picks earphones and misreads the price of delivery.
安妮Annie
我想买一个耳机。这个三十九块八，行吗？
I want to buy earphones. This pair is thirty-nine eight. Is that OK?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
行啊，一点儿也不贵。你看下面，送过来还要钱。
Sure, it's not expensive at all. Look below, delivery costs extra.
安妮Annie
这里写着五角，五块钱，对吧？
It says five jiao here. That's five yuan, right?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
不对不对！五角就是五毛。
No, no! Five jiao is five mao.
安妮Annie
五毛？
Five mao?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
对，半块钱。一共是四十块三毛。
Right, half a yuan. The total is forty yuan three mao.
安妮Annie
半块钱，这么便宜！好，我买了！
Half a yuan, that cheap! OK, I'm buying it!
Xiaoxue orders fruit from home, and Annie asks how much that really is.
安妮Annie
你买香蕉啊？我也想吃。
You're buying bananas? I want some too.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
买两公斤。我家那边的香蕉特别好吃。
Two kilos. The bananas back home are especially good.
安妮Annie
两公斤是几斤？
How many jin is two kilos?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
一公斤是两斤，所以是四斤。
One kilo is two jin, so it's four jin.
安妮Annie
大概有多少个呢？
About how many is that?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
大概十一二个吧。你吃三四个，行不行？
About eleven or twelve. You can have three or four, OK?
安妮Annie
行！那我一个也不用买了，吃你的。
Sure! Then I won't buy a single one. I'll eat yours.
On the last page, Annie writes her room number. Xiaoxue lives next door.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
最后，写房间号码。
Last, your room number.
安妮Annie
我的是……四一三？写好了。
Mine is 413. Done.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
等等，四一三是我的！你住四一二。
Wait, 413 is mine! You live in 412.
安妮Annie
啊，又错了！
Oh, wrong again!
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
好了。你看，网站上写着：今天发，星期五到。
There. Look, the website says it will be sent today and will arrive Friday.
安妮Annie
星期五？我的耳机，还要等两天啊。
Friday? My earphones, I still have to wait two days.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
别急，电子书现在就能看。我的香蕉也要星期五才到呢！
Don't worry, you can read the e-book now. My bananas won't come until Friday either!
Xiaoxue reads 三十九块八sān shí jiǔ kuài bā and corrects Annie's 五块wǔ kuài to 五毛wǔ máo.
In sentences
Weight
一公斤是两斤。
One kilo is two jin.
公斤gōngjīn is the kilo; 斤jīn is the old Chinese half-kilo.
A：这个多少钱？ B：十二块五毛，写出来是十二元五角。
A: How much is this? B: Twelve kuai five mao, written twelve yuan five jiao.
我买了两公斤苹果，就是四斤。
I bought two kilos of apples, which is four jin.
一块钱是十毛，半块钱是五毛。
One yuan is ten mao, and half a yuan is five mao.
三公斤香蕉是六斤，一斤要三块五。
Three kilos of bananas is six jin, and each jin costs three kuai five.
耳机三十九块八，送到房间还要五毛。
The earphones are thirty-nine eight, and delivery to the room is another five mao.
Chinese money has two names. In speech: 块kuài and 毛máo, as in 三十九块八sān shí jiǔ kuài bā and 五毛wǔ máo. In writing and on price tags: 元yuán and 角jiǎo, as in 三十九元八角sān shí jiǔ yuán bā jiǎo. Ten 毛máo make one 块kuài, so 五毛wǔ máo is 半块bàn kuài, half of one 块kuài. Weights follow the same pair: 斤jīn is the Chinese unit and 公斤gōngjīn is the kilo, with one 公斤gōngjīn equal to two 斤jīn. The key constraint is to keep the spoken pair and the written pair apart. In a shop the last unit is often dropped: 三十九块八sān shí jiǔ kuài bā means 39.8 yuan, and 三块五sān kuài wǔ means 3.5 yuan. Fruit and vegetables are sold by 斤jīn in a market and often by 公斤gōngjīn online, so check which unit the price is for. A common mistake is to read 角jiǎo as 块kuài: ✗ 五角是五块wǔ jiǎo shì wǔ kuài, ✓ 五角是五毛wǔ jiǎo shì wǔ máo.
用“大概”表示概数
Put 大概dàgài before a number or a verb to say "about" or "roughly".
Guess a number
大概dàgài before the number says that it is approximate.
Annie asks 大概有多少个呢dàgài yǒu duōshao ge ne and Xiaoxue answers 大概十一二个吧dàgài shí yī èr ge ba.
In sentences
With 吧
大概十个吧。
About ten, I guess.
吧ba softens the guess.
我大概六点起床，七点半到学校。
I get up around six and arrive at school at half past seven.
A：你家离学校远吗？ B：大概二十分钟吧。
A: Is your home far from school? B: About twenty minutes, I'd say.
这件大衣大概三百块，不太贵。
This coat is about three hundred yuan, not too expensive.
我们班大概有三十个学生，不太多。
There are about thirty students in our class, not too many.
明天大概会下雨，你带伞吧。
It will probably rain tomorrow, so take an umbrella.
大概dàgài shows that a number or a time is a guess. Put it before the number or the verb phrase: 大概十一二个dàgài shí yī èr ge, 大概六点起床dàgài liù diǎn qǐchuáng. It can also mean "probably": 他大概不来了tā dàgài bù lái le. It is a spoken word and goes with 吧ba when you are not sure: 大概十个吧dàgài shí ge ba. The key constraint is that 大概dàgài comes before the number, not after it. Use it when you do not know the exact number; if you do, just say it, as in 十二个shí èr ge and not 大概十二个dàgài shí èr ge. A common mistake is to put it at the end: ✗ 十个大概shí ge dàgài, ✓ 大概十个dàgài shí ge.
相邻数词连用表示概数
Two neighboring numbers side by side, smaller first, give a rough number: 三四个sān sì ge, 十一二个shí yī èr ge.
Rough number
Two neighbors, smaller first: 三sān + 四sì = three or four.
Xiaoxue says 你吃三四个nǐ chī sān sì ge after 十一二个shí yī èr ge.
In sentences
With tens
十一二个
eleven or twelve
Say the ten once, then the two units: 十shí + 一yī + 二èr.
我们班有二十七八个学生。
There are twenty-seven or twenty-eight students in our class.
A：你们等了多长时间？ B：我们等了三四十分钟。
A: How long did you wait? B: We waited thirty or forty minutes.
我一天喝五六杯水。
I drink five or six glasses of water a day.
这个手机卖两三千块。
This phone sells for two or three thousand yuan.
香蕉一共十一二个，我们两个人都吃了五六个。
There are eleven or twelve bananas in all, and the two of us each ate five or six.
Put two neighboring numbers together, smaller first, to mean "about": 三四个sān sì ge is three or four, 五六个人wǔ liù ge rén is five or six people. For bigger numbers, give the tens once: 十一二个shí yī èr ge is eleven or twelve. The pattern works with a measure word and a noun, and you can add 大概dàgài in front, though it is not needed. The key constraint is that the numbers must be next to each other and the smaller comes first. This pattern sounds natural for small numbers and for numbers with a ten, such as 二十七八个èr shí qī bā ge, and you can also say 两三个liǎng sān ge with 两liǎng for "two". It is not used for an exact price or a time on a clock. A common mistake is to reverse them or skip a number: ✗ 四三个sì sān ge, ✓ 三四个sān sì ge.
一……也/都+不/没……、一点儿也不
一yī + measure word + 也yě/都dōu + 不bù/没méi + verb says "not even one", "not at all".
Not even one
A strong negative: nothing at all.
Annie says 我一本书也不用带了wǒ yì běn shū yě búyòng dài le after Xiaoxue's e-book idea.
In sentences
With 没
我今天一口饭也没吃。
I haven't had a single bite today.
没méi is for something that has not happened.
这个网站一点儿也不难用，我妈妈都会用。
This website is not hard to use at all. Even my mom can use it.
A：你饿吗？ B：我一点儿也不饿。
A: Are you hungry? B: Not hungry at all.
他一个字也不认识，所以不能看汉字书。
He doesn't know a single character, so he can't read Chinese books.
我昨天一个字也没看，今天的考试怎么办？
I didn't read a single character yesterday. What about today's test?
安妮一个香蕉也没买，她吃小雪的。
Annie didn't buy a single banana. She eats Xiaoxue's.
一yī + measure word + 也yě or 都dōu + 不bù or 没méi + verb means that not even one is the case. 我一本书也不用带wǒ yì běn shū yě búyòng dài is "I do not need to carry a single book". 一点儿yìdiǎnr works the same way: 一点儿也不贵yìdiǎnr yě bú guì is "not expensive at all". The key constraint is that the verb or adjective after 也yě or 都dōu must be negative. It is common in speech to stress a complaint or a surprise, as in 我一个人也不认识wǒ yí ge rén yě bú rènshi. 都dōu can replace
Sure! Then I won't buy a single one. I'll eat yours.
Why it matters · 一个也不用买yí ge yě búyòng mǎi shows "not a single one".
