074: Talking About Discounts in Mandarin Chinese

Who doesn’t love to get a bargain? Almost every shopper can’t resist looking for something which is now cheaper than before! If your friends want to go bargain-hunting, be sure to be able to talk about your shopping skills…

In this Podcast, you will learn:

(1) To enquire about how much discount on price is available in the shops

(2) How to talk about going looking for discounted items to buy

Dialogue: Two colleagues talk about the big news of the day; it’s sales time!

A-我听说ZARA正打折呢。七折！Wǒ tīng shuō ZARA zhèng dǎzhé ne. Qī zhé!

I heard Zara is having a sale. 30 per cent off!

B-真的吗？Zhēn de ma?

Really?

A-咱俩平时老在淘宝上买便宜货。今天去那儿看看吧。Zán liǎ píngshí lǎo zài táobǎo shàng mǎi piányí huò. Jīntiān qù nà’er kàn kàn ba.

Yes. We are always shopping online at Taobao for cheap things. Today let’s go to Zara to take a look instead.

B-对对，走。Sure. Let’s go.

Chinese words and phrases mentioned in this Podcast:

我听说：I heard

打折：on sale

七折：30 per cent off

真的吗：Really?

咱俩：We (two people)—casual expression

老：often

淘宝：Chinese online shopping site

便宜货：cheap products

今天：today

去那儿：go there

看看：take a look

Cultural note: Taobao（淘宝） is one of the biggest online shopping sites in China. On Nov 11th, or other special days, it offers great discounts for many products—similar to “Cyber Monday”.

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Facebook Looking for a bargain is almost a national pastime in China. Everybody loves a discount! In Learn Mandarin Now Podcast 74, we’ll help you talk about price reductions and getting a bargain—follow our useful Podcasts every day to make studying Mandarin Chinese more fun!