Dialogue

Lesson Transcript

Do you know how to ask for the price in Chinese?
Welcome to Three Step Chinese Practice by ChineseClass101.com. In this lesson, you will practice using demonstratives and measure words to ask and answer questions about price.
Let's look at the main dialogue.
Two people are having a conversation.
请问,这幅画多少钱?(Qǐngwèn, zhè fú huà duōshǎo qián?)
"Excuse me, how much is this painting?"
哪一幅,这一幅吗?(Nǎ yī fú, zhè yi fú ma?)
"Which one? This one?"
是的,就是这幅。(Shì de, jiùshì zhè fú.)
"Yes, this one."
这幅画是2,500元。(Zhè fú huà shì liǎng qiān wǔ bǎi yuán.)
"This painting is 2,500 yuan."
这是哪个国家的画家画的?(Zhè shì nǎge guójiā de huàjiā huà de?)
"Which country's painter painted this?"
这是法国的画家画的。(Zhè shì Fǎguó de huàjiā huà de.)
"It was painted by a French painter."
In the sentence 这幅画多少钱? (Zhè fú huà duōshǎo qián?) — "How much is this painting?" —
这 (zhè) is the demonstrative "this," and 幅 (fú) is the measure word used for paintings and cloth.
In Chinese, demonstratives like 这 (zhè), meaning "this," and 那 (nà), meaning "that," are used before nouns, but only when paired with a measure word.
For plural items, we use 这些 (zhèxiē) for "these" and 那些 (nàxiē) for "those."
You'll also hear other common combinations like:
这辆 (zhè liàng) – "this vehicle," using 辆 (liàng), the measure word for cars and bikes
那个 (nà gè) – "that [object]," using 个 (gè), a general-purpose measure word for many everyday items like a clock, a cup, or phones
这种 (zhè zhǒng) – "this type," with 种 (zhǒng), which is sometimes used when talking about categories or types, like watches or electronics
这双 (zhè shuāng) – "this pair," using 双 (shuāng) for things that come in pairs, like shoes or gloves
这些 (zhèxiē) and 那些 (nàxiē) – plural demonstratives used with words like 袜子 (wàzi), meaning "socks"
In this lesson, you'll focus on recognizing and using these demonstrative and measure word combinations.
Let's keep going and practice identifying and asking about common objects using these forms.

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