Shopping & Money in Chinese 购物和金钱

Shopping Chinese is wonderfully practical: a handful of words — 买 (buy), 多少钱 (how much), 太贵了 (too expensive) — covers most transactions. This list names the places you shop, the verbs of buying and bargaining, money words like 元 and 现金, and the payment-era words like 信用卡 that markets and malls share.

• 72 words
• Tone-colored pinyin
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• 购物gòu wù
  to shop; shopping
  你可以在那儿购物。

  You can do your shopping.
• 商店shāng diàn
  shop; store
  商店周一关门。

  The store is closed Mondays.
• 超市chāo shì
  supermarket
  她在超市做秘书。

  She is a clerk in the supermarket.
• 市场shì chǎng
  market; marketplace
  他每天去市场。

  He goes to the market everyday.
• 商场shāng chǎng
  shopping mall
  萨米和莱拉想要去商场。

  Sami and Layla want to go to the mall.
• 便利店biàn lì diàn
  convenience store
  我在便利店买了肉包吃了。

  I bought meat buns at the convenience store and ate them.
• 杂货店zá huò diàn
  grocery store
  每周六鲍勃在杂货店做店员。

  Bob worked as a clerk in the grocery store on Saturday.
• 书店shū diàn
  bookstore; bookshop
  百货商店前有个书店。

  There is a bookstore in front of the department store.
• 药店yào diàn
  pharmacy; drugstore
  我去药店买了些感冒药。

  I went to the pharmacy and bought some cold medicine.
• 花店huā diàn
  flower shop; florist
  附近有一家花店。

  There is a flower shop near by.
• 面包店miàn bāo diàn
  bakery
  我现在要去面包店了。你想要什么吗？

  I'm going to the bakery now. Do you want anything?
• 咖啡馆kā fēi guǎn
  café; coffee shop
  咖啡馆的三明治怎么样？

  How are the sandwiches at this coffee shop?
• 餐厅cān tīng
  dining room; restaurant
  餐厅什么时间开放呢？

  When does the dining room open?
• 电影院diàn yǐng yuàn
  cinema; movie theater
  昨天我去电影院。

  I went to the cinema yesterday.
• 理发店lǐ fà diàn
  barbershop; hair salon
  我去了理发店。

  I have been to the barber's.
• 美容院měi róng yuàn
  beauty salon
  她每个月都去美容院。

  She goes to the beauty salon every month.
• 东西dōng xī
  thing; stuff; goods
  这是什么东西？

  What the hell is this?
• 买mǎi
  to buy
  爷爷买给我的！

  Grandpa bought it for me!
• 卖mài
  to sell
  旧杂志卖完了。

  The old magazines are all sold out.
• 价格jià gé
  price
  这个价格不合理。

  The price is not reasonable.
• 便宜biàn yí
  cheap; inexpensive
  土豆很便宜的。

  Potatoes are very cheap.
• 贵guì
  expensive; dear
  它不会太贵的。

  It won't cost much.
• 打折dǎ zhé
  to give a discount; on sale
  价钱可以打折吗？

  Can the price be discounted?
• 免费miǎn fèi
  free of charge; free
  毕竟，天下没有免费的午餐。

  After all, there is no free lunch in this world.
• 条形码tiáo xíng mǎ
  barcode
  收银员扫了一下条形码。

  The cashier scanned the barcode.
• 收据shōu jù
  receipt
  你有没有收据？

  Have you a receipt?
• 发票fā piào
  invoice; official receipt (fapiao)
  记得向商家要发票。

  Remember to ask the shop for an official receipt.
• 优惠券yōu huì quàn
  coupon; voucher
  可以给我优惠券吗？

  May I have coupon tickets?
• 特价tè jià
  special offer; special price
  这周末牛奶特价。

  Milk is on special offer this weekend.
• 退款tuì kuǎn
  refund
  质量有问题,我要求退款。

  There is a quality problem; I demand a refund.
• 退货tuì huò
  to return (goods) for a refund
  这件衣服不合身,我想退货。

  This piece of clothing doesn't fit; I want to return it.
• 保修bǎo xiū
  warranty; to repair under warranty
  这台电脑的保修还没到期。

  The warranty on this computer hasn't expired yet.
• 库存kù cún
  stock; inventory
  我们现在缺乏库存。

  We're out of stock now.
• 分期付款fēn qī fù kuǎn
  installment plan; to pay in installments
  我用分期付款买了这台冰箱。

  I bought this fridge on an installment plan.
• 网购wǎng gòu
  online shopping; to shop online
  现在网购越来越方便。

  Online shopping is getting more and more convenient.
• 快递kuài dì
  express delivery; courier package
  你的快递到了,下来取一下。

  Your package has arrived; come down and pick it up.
• 试穿shì chuān
  to try on (clothes)
  你可以先试穿再决定买不买。

  You can try it on first before deciding whether to buy.
• 试用shì yòng
  to try out; to test (a product)
  这台相机可以免费试用三天。

  You can try this camera free for three days.
• 大小dà xiǎo
  size; big or small
  我需要十号大小的鞋子！

  I need size 10 shoes!
• 一共yī gòng
  altogether; in total
  你一共花了多少钱？

  What is the total amount of money you spent?
• 钱qián
  money
  钱买不到幸福。

  Money cannot buy happiness.
• 元yuán
  yuan (unit of RMB)
  我欠他一百元。

  I owe him $100.
• 现金xiàn jīn
  cash
  接受现金捐赠。

  Cash donations will be accepted.
• 信用卡xìn yòng kǎ
  credit card
  我的信用卡无效。

  My credit card was invalid.
• 手机shǒu jī
  mobile phone; cell phone
  你有没有手机？

  Have you got a mobile phone?
• 付款fù kuǎn
  to pay; payment
  我拒绝了付款。

  I refused to pay.
• 结账jié zhàng
  to settle the bill; to check out
  我们排队等着结账。

  We lined up waiting to check out.
• 找钱zhǎo qián
  to give change (money back)
  他收了钱,忘了找钱。

  He took the money and forgot to give change.
• 袋子dài zi
  bag; sack
  他拿着一个装满了苹果的袋子。

  He carried a bag full of apples.
• 纸袋zhǐ dài
  paper bag
  我可以要个纸袋吗？

  Can I have a paper bag?
• 购物车gòu wù chē
  shopping cart
  推着购物车逛超市很方便。

  Pushing a shopping cart makes supermarket trips easy.
• 包bāo
  bag; package; to pack
  这不是我的包。

  This isn't my bag.
• 背包bēi bāo
  backpack; knapsack
  你的背包在我办公桌上面。

  Your bag is on my desk.
• 双肩包shuāng jiān bāo
  two-strap backpack; daypack
  上学的孩子都背双肩包。

  Schoolkids all carry two-strap backpacks.
• 单肩包dān jiān bāo
  single-strap shoulder bag
  她背了个单肩包去买菜。

  She carried a shoulder bag out to buy groceries.
• 手提包shǒu tí bāo
  handbag
  她的手提包被偷了。

  She had her handbag stolen.
• 腰包yāo bāo
  fanny pack; waist bag
  跑步时他把手机放在腰包里。

  When running he keeps his phone in his fanny pack.
• 钱包qián bāo
  wallet; purse
  我掉了我的钱包。

  I have lost my wallet.
• 公文包gōng wén bāo
  briefcase
  爸爸上班总是带着公文包。

  Dad always carries a briefcase to work.
• 质量zhì liàng
  quality
  我们对产品做例行质量检查。

  We conduct regular checks on the quality of our product.
• 老板lǎo bǎn
  boss; shop owner
  老板在那里吗？

  The boss is there?
• 收银员shōu yín yuán
  cashier; checkout clerk
  玛丽是个收银员。

  Mary works as a cashier.
• 顾客gù kè
  customer; shopper
  今天顾客比较少。

  There's not very many customers today.
• 经理jīng lǐ
  manager
  对，是我们经理。

  Yes, she's our manager.
• 试衣间shì yī jiān
  fitting room; changing room
  我想试试这件。请问哪里是试衣间？

  I'd like to try this on. Where are the fitting rooms?
• 货架huò jià
  shelf (in a store)
  仓库里的货架摆得整整齐齐。

  The shelves in the storeroom are neatly arranged.
• 品牌pǐn pái
  brand
  我们这里有许多品牌。

  We have lots of brands here.
• 预订yù dìng
  to book; to reserve
  我想预订一个靠窗的位子。

  I'd like to book a seat by the window.
• 排队pái duì
  to queue; to line up
  他是排队的第一个。

  He was the first in line.
• 逛guàng
  to stroll; to window-shop
  各处溜溜逛一逛，看看景色怎么样？

  How do you like to stroll around for a while and see the sights?
• 打包dǎ bāo
  to pack up; to box leftovers
  我觉得我们需要一个打包盒。

  I think we need a doggy bag.
• 送货sòng huò
  to deliver goods; home delivery
  你们周日送货吗？

  Do you deliver on Sundays?