HSK 1 · Lesson 9多少钱？ How much is it?
Shopping and money: 块 and 毛, 这个/那个, 太…了.
Speed:Male voice:
Dialogues
In a shop
A
你好，这个多少钱？
Nǐ hǎo, zhège duōshao qián?
Hello, how much is this?
B
这个三十块。
Zhège sānshí kuài.
This one is thirty yuan.
A
太贵了！那个呢？
Tài guì le! Nàge ne?
Too expensive! And that one?
B
那个十五块五。
Nàge shíwǔ kuài wǔ.
That one is fifteen fifty.
A
好，我买那个，再买两本书。
Hǎo, wǒ mǎi nàge, zài mǎi liǎng běn shū.
OK, I’ll take that one and two books.
B
一共五十五块五。
Yígòng wǔshíwǔ kuài wǔ.
Fifty-five fifty altogether.
New words
- 买mǎito buy; to purchase
- 钱qiáncoin; money; unit of weight, one tenth of a tael 兩
- 块kuàilump; chunk; piece
- 毛máohair; feather; down
- 元yuáncurrency unit (esp. Chinese yuan); first; original; primary
- 多少钱duōshao qiánhow much (money)?
- 贵guìexpensive; highly valued; precious
- 太tàihighest; greatest; too (much)
- 这个zhègethis (one)
- 那个nàgethat (one)
- 本běnroot; stem; origin; source
- 书shūbook; letter; document
- 商店shāngdiànstore; shop
- 东西dōngxithing; stuff; person
- 衣服yīfuclothes
- 水果shuǐguǒfruit
- 钱包qiánbāopurse; wallet
- 再zàiagain; once more; re-
- 件jiànitem; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc
Grammar
1. Money: 块 and 毛
The currency is the yuan (人民币). In speech 块 = yuan, 毛 = 0.1 yuan. 15.50 — 十五块五(毛). Price tags say 元. The question is 多少钱？
八块五
bā kuài wǔ
8.50 yuan
一百元
yìbǎi yuán
100 yuan
2. 这个 / 那个 — “this one / that one”
这/那 + (number) + measure word + noun
Before a noun, 这 and 那 need a measure word: 这本书 “this book”, 那两个包子 “those two buns”. 这个 alone means “this one”.
这本书很好。
Zhè běn shū hěn hǎo.
This book is good.
3. 太…了 — “too…”
太 + adjective + 了: 太贵了 “too expensive”, 太好了 “great!” (exclamation).
太好了！
Tài hǎo le!
Great!
这件衣服太大了。
Zhè jiàn yīfu tài dà le.
These clothes are too big.
Exercises
1. Say the price
- ¥12
Answer
十二块 - ¥6.50
Answer
六块五（毛） - ¥100
Answer
一百块
2. Translate
- How much is this book?
Answer
这本书多少钱？ - Too expensive!
Answer
太贵了！ - I want to buy fruit.
Answer
我想买水果。
💡 Did you know?: Paying by phone
In China almost everything is paid by phone with a QR code — WeChat or Alipay, even at markets. Bargaining is fine at markets, not in shops with price tags.
Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).