Chinese For Dummies (54 page)

Chinese people generally don't eat any raw food. The idea of a raw salad bar is truly foreign to them. In fact,
shēngcài
生菜
(shung-tsye) (
lettuce
) literally translates as raw food, and the Chinese generally consider it fit only for farm ­animals.

Making comparisons

When you want to compare people or objects, you generally put the word
bǐ
比
(
bee)
(compared to) between two nouns, followed by an adjective: A
bǐ
B (adjective). This construction means
A is more ____ than B
.

Here are a few examples:

Píngguǒ bǐ júzi hǎochī.
苹果比桔子好吃
. (
蘋果比橘子好吃
.)
(peeng-gwaw bee jyew-dzuh how-chir.) (
Apples are tastier than oranges.
)

Tā bǐ nǐ niánqīng.
她比你年轻
(
年輕
). (tah bee nee nyan-cheeng.) (
She's younger than you.
)

Zhèige fànguǎr bǐ nèige fànguǎr guì.
这个饭馆比那个饭馆贵
. (
這個飯館比那個飯館貴
.) (jay-guh fahn-gwar bee nay-guh fahng-gwar gway.) (
This restaurant is more expensive than that one.
)

How much is that thousand-year-old egg?

When you're ready to buy some foodstuffs, here are two simple ways to ask how much the products cost:

Duōshǎo qián?
多少钱
? (
多少錢
?) (dwaw-shaow chyan?) (
How much money is it?
)

Jǐkuài qián?
几块钱
? (
幾塊錢
?) (jee-kwye chyan?) (Literally:
How many dollars does it cost?
)

The only difference between the two questions is the implied amount of the cost. If you use the question word
duōshǎo
多少
(dwaw-shaow),
you want to inquire about something that's most likely more than $10. If you use
jǐ
几
(
å¹¾
) (jee) in front of
kuài
块
(
塊
) (kwye) (
dollars
), you assume the product costs less than $10. (You can also use
jǐ
in front of
suì
岁
(
æ­²
) (sway) (
years
) when you want to know how old a child under 10 is.)

Talkin' the Talk

At the local open-air market in Kaifeng, Margaret and Emmanuel eye some vegetables and discuss the price with the older man selling them in his stall. (Track 11)

Margaret:

Shīfu, qǐng wèn, nǐ yǒu méiyǒu bōcài?

shir-foo, cheeng one, nee yo mayo baw-tsye?

Sir, may I ask, do you have any spinach?

Shīfu:

Dāngrán. Yào jǐjīn?

dahng-rahn. yaow jee-jeen?

Of course. How many kilograms would you like?

Emmanuel:

Wǒmen mǎi sānjīn, hǎo bùhǎo?

waw-men my sahn-jeen, how boo-how?

Let's get three kilograms, okay?

Margaret:

Hǎo. Sānjīn ba.

how. sahn-jeen bah.

Okay. It'll be three kilograms then.

Shīfu:

Méi wèntǐ. Yìjīn sān kuài qián. Nèmme, yiígòng jiǔ kuài.

may one-tee. ee-jeen sahn kwye chyan. nummuh, ee-goong jyoe kwye.

No problem. It's $3 a kilogram. So that will be $9 ­all together.

Emmanuel:

Děng yíxià. Bōcài bǐ gàilán guì duōle. Wǒmen mǎi gàilán ba.

dung ee-shyah. baw-tsye bee guy-lahn gway dwaw- luh. waw-mun my guy-lahn bah.

Wait a minute. Spinach is more expensive than Chinese broccoli. Let's buy Chinese broccoli then.

Shīfu:

Hǎo. Gàilán liǎngkuài yìjīn. Hái yào sānjīn ma?

how. guy-lahn lyahng-kwye ee-jeen. hi yaow sahn-jeen mah?

Okay. Chinese broccoli is $2 a kilogram. Do you still want three kilograms?

Margaret:

Shì de.

shir duh.

Yes.

Shīfu:

Nà, sānjīn yígòng liù kuài.

nah, sahn-jeen ee-goong lyo kwye.

In that case, three kilograms will be $6.

Emmanuel:

Hǎo. Zhè shì liù kuài.

how. juh shir lyoe kwye.

Okay. Here's $6.

Shīfu:

Xièxiè.

shyeh-shyeh.

Thank you.

Emmanuel:

Xièxiè. Zàijiàn.

shyeh-shyeh. dzye-jyan.

Thanks. Goodbye.

Shīfu:

Zàijiàn.

dzye-jyan.

Goodbye.

Shīfu
师傅
(
師傅
) (shir-foo) is a term used to indicate someone providing a service; it shows more respect due to age than the term
fúwùyuán
服务员
(
服務員
) (foo-woo-ywan), which indicates any kind of attendant, does.

 Fun & Games