5 Lesson 10 Dialogue 1: 在商店买衣服

Dialogue:

(Jenny 是李贵的大学同学。今天是周末，她想去买衣服。她请李贵和她一起去。他们进了一家商店。)
售货员：欢迎光临！请问你们要买点儿什么？
Jenny：我想买一件衣服和一条裤子。
售货员：您穿多大的？
Jenny：中号的。
售货员：中号的衣服和裤子都在这儿。要我帮你找吗？
Jenny：不用，谢谢！请问试衣间在哪儿？
售货员：在那儿。
Jenny：好的。谢谢！… 李贵，你觉得我穿这件红色的衣服怎么样？
李贵：我觉得这件衣服的大小很合适，颜色也好看。
Jenny：那这条白色的裤子呢？
李贵：长短合适，可是颜色不好看。
Jenny：售货员，请问这条裤子有黑色的吗？
售货员：有。这条怎么样？
Jenny：我试一下。（试了以后）颜色不错，长短也合适。衣服和裤子一共多少钱？
售货员：一百五十六块九毛九。
Jenny：太贵了，可不可以便宜点儿？
售货员：要是您买点儿别的，就可以便宜点儿。
Jenny：那我再买一双鞋子吧。这双多少钱？
售货员：三十九块五。衣服、裤子和鞋子一共是一百七十块钱。我给您便宜了二十六块四毛九。
Jenny：好，谢谢你！这是两百块钱。
售货员：找您三十块钱。您慢走!

Vocabulary:

Grammar Notes:

1. In this dialogue, several color names are used. Let’s learn some basic color (颜色) names
   Red – 红　hóng
   Blue – 蓝　lán
   Yellow – 黄　huáng
   Green – 绿　lǜ
   Purple – 紫  zǐ
   White – 白　bái
   Orange – 橙　chéng
   Pink 粉红　fěn hóng
   Grey – 灰   huī
   Black – 黑　hēi
   People also add 色 after the color names. For example, red = 红; red color = 红色.
2. The question word 多大 in the sentence “您穿多大的”
   The question word 多大 is used to ask about the size of something. In the sentence 您穿多大的, after 多大的 there should be two nouns: 衣服 and 裤子. They are omitted to avoid repetition because Jenny already mentioned that she wanted to buy 衣服 and 裤子 in the previous statement. Below are more examples about the usage of 多大:
   那件衣服多大？(What size is this coat?)
   这条裤子多大？(What’s the size of this pair of pants?)
   Note: 多大 has two meanings: “how old” and “what size”. If the subject is a person, 多大 normally means “how old”. If the subject is an object, it means “what size”. For example:
   你的儿子多大？(How old is your son?)
   这双鞋子多大？(What is the size of the shoes?)
   New question words can be formed by adding adjectives after 多, often used to ask about the degree or extent of something, including 多久、多少、多高、多长, etc. The structure is “Subject + 多 + adjective …?” For example:
   那个男孩多高？(How tall is the boy?)
   他们多久没见？(How long haven’t they seen each other?)
3. measure words 件、条、双
   件 is a measure word for clothes, including 衣服 (clothes)，大衣 (overcoat)，衬衫 (shirt)，毛衣 (sweater), etc.
   条 is a measure word most commonly used for elongated objects. For example, 一条裤子，一条路(road)，一条腿(leg)，一条河(river)， etc.
   双 is usually used with objects that naturally come in pairs, like hands, limbs, or things that are used or worn in pairs. If one part is missing, this whole object would be incomplete, cannot work well, or even become useless. For example, 一双鞋子，一双眼睛(eyes)，一双筷子(chopsticks), etc.
4. measure words 块、毛、分(fēn)
   These are three measure word units for Chinese currency in spoken Chinese.
   In Mandarin, 块(kuài) is the basic unit of currency, which can be replaced by 元 (yuán). For instance, 1 RMB can be said as either 一块(钱) or 一元(钱).  The only difference is 块 is more often used in oral Chinese while 元 is more often used in formal situations. If a Chinese person tells you 这件衣服五十, you should know that the unit he omitted is 块 or 元.
   毛 is one tenths of 一块, which can be said as 角 (jiǎo). For example, 0.10 RMB is 一毛 or 一角 in Chinese. Similarly, 毛 is more often used in spoken Chinese while 角 is used more in formal and written Chinese.
   分 is the smallest unit of currency in China. 0.05 RMB is said as 一分(钱). Nowadays, you won’t probably see or hear 分 used in China because of inflation.
   The relationship among the three units of currency is: 1 块/元=10毛/角; 1 毛/角=10分.
5. The verb 找 in the sentence “找您三十块钱”
   找 in this dialogue means “to give change”. The sentence above means “I give you ￥30 as change”. The structure is “Person A + 找 + Person B + money amount”. For example:
   售货员找我一块钱。(The salesman gave me ￥1 as change.)

Cultural Notes:

China has numerous places to shop that can satisfy all shoppers’ desires, ranging from luxury shopping malls to roadside stalls. Large Chinese cities have huge department stores where you’ll find many international brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Armani. Those cities also feature special business streets, where local products can be found. Below are two things that you may find different from shopping in Western countries.

Stores showing hospitality:

There are many ways for Chinese stores to try expressing their hospitality and welcome: (1) when shopping in China, you will probably see 1-2 people standing at the entrance, bowing and saying “欢迎光临” politely to every customer entering the store. (2) You might frequently hear the salesperson asking you what you would like to buy (请问您要买点儿什么) and whether you would like them to help you (要不要我帮您…). (3) When you leave the store, you will hear the salesperson, as well as the people standing at the entrance, say “您慢走” or “欢迎下次光临“.

Bargaining culture in China:

When shopping in malls, department stores, and restaurants, you cannot bargain. However, when shopping in self-employed booths, farmers’ markets, night markets, and flea markets in China, people tend to bargain because the things on sale in these markets don’t have price tags. Here is how you can do it: First you ask the seller the price of the thing you want to buy. He/she then tells you how much he/she wants to sell it for. You then tell him/her how much you want to buy it for (you can start at a reasonably low price). You and the seller continue to talk about the price by slowly working your way up until you both agree on an acceptable price. 便宜点儿 (A little cheaper, please) is the most frequently used expression when bargaining with sellers. Watch this video to learn how people bargain at a farmer’s market.