HSK 4 · Lesson 31至少存一百块 Save at least a hundred yuan

Money: pocket money, savings, business. 共 “in total”, 全 “all of it”, 光 “only (colloquial)”, 仅 / 仅仅 “merely”, 至少 “at least”, 算 “to count; to be considered”, 大大 “greatly”.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

Pocket money

A
这个月的零花钱你全花完了？
Zhège yuè de línghuāqián nǐ quán huāwán le?
Have you spent all this month’s pocket money?
B
还剩一点儿。我光买书就花了三百。
Hái shèng yìdiǎnr. Wǒ guāng mǎi shū jiù huāle sānbǎi.
There’s a little left. I spent three hundred on books alone.
A
你要节约一点儿，别浪费钱。
Nǐ yào jiéyuē yìdiǎnr, bié làngfèi qián.
You need to be more careful — don’t waste money.
B
我知道。下个月我打算每周至少存一百块。
Wǒ zhīdào. Xià ge yuè wǒ dǎsuàn měi zhōu zhìshǎo cún yìbǎi kuài.
I know. Next month I plan to save at least a hundred yuan a week.
A
好。一个月共四个星期，你算算能存多少？
Hǎo. Yí ge yuè gòng sì ge xīngqī, nǐ suànsuan néng cún duōshao?
Good. A month has four weeks in all — work out how much you can save.
B
四百！到年底就有好几千了。
Sìbǎi! Dào niándǐ jiù yǒu hǎo jǐ qiān le.
Four hundred! By the end of the year I’ll have several thousand.

Business

A
你的生意怎么样？
Nǐ de shēngyi zěnmeyàng?
How’s business?
B
不错，今年赚了不少，收入大大增长了。
Búcuò, jīnnián zhuànle bù shǎo, shōurù dàdà zēngzhǎng le.
Not bad — I’ve earned quite a lot this year and income has grown a great deal.
A
太好了！是因为经济发展了吗？
Tài hǎo le! Shì yīnwèi jīngjì fāzhǎn le ma?
Great! Is it because the economy is growing?
B
一方面是这样，另一方面网上的顾客越来越多。
Yì fāngmiàn shì zhèyàng, lìng yì fāngmiàn wǎngshang de gùkè yuè lái yuè duō.
Partly, and partly because there are more and more customers online.
A
年底给大家发奖金吗？
Niándǐ gěi dàjiā fā jiǎngjīn ma?
Will you give everyone a bonus at the end of the year?
B
当然。不过各种费用也不少，仅房租每个月就要两万。
Dāngrán. Búguò gèzhǒng fèiyong yě bù shǎo, jǐn fángzū měi ge yuè jiù yào liǎngwàn.
Of course. But there are lots of expenses too — the rent alone is twenty thousand a month.

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. 共, 全, 光, 仅 / 仅仅, 至少

These adverbs say how much is covered. 共 is “in total” (more formal than 一共): 一个月共四个星期. 全 is “all, entirely”: 钱全花完了 “the money is all spent”. 光 is the colloquial “only”: 光买书就花了三百 “books alone cost three hundred”. 仅 / 仅仅 are the written “only, merely”: 仅房租就要两万. 至少 is “at least”: 至少存一百块.

我们班共有三十个学生。
Wǒmen bān gòng yǒu sānshí ge xuésheng.
Our class has thirty students in total.
他光喝水，不吃饭。
Tā guāng hē shuǐ, bù chī fàn.
He only drinks water and doesn’t eat.
这件事仅仅用了一天。
Zhè jiàn shì jǐnjǐn yòngle yì tiān.
This took only a single day.

2. 算 “to count; to be considered”

算 is “to count, to calculate”: 你算算能存多少？; and “to be considered”: 这不算贵 “that isn’t expensive”, 他算是我的老师 “you could call him my teacher”. 算了 means “forget it, never mind”.

一个月两千五，不算贵。
Yí ge yuè liǎngqiān wǔ, bú suàn guì.
Two and a half thousand a month isn’t expensive.
算了，别买了。
Suàn le, bié mǎi le.
Forget it — don’t buy it.

3. Money: 赚 / 花, 存 / 交 / 付, 节约 / 浪费

赚 “to earn” — 花 “to spend”. 存 “to save, to deposit”: 存钱. 交 is “to hand in, to pay in”: 交学费, 交房租. 付 is “to pay”: 付钱, 用手机付. 节约 “to save, economise” — 浪费 “to waste”. 费 / 费用 are “fee, expenses”: 电费 “electricity bill”. 大大 + verb means “greatly”: 大大增长; 大量 / 少量 are “a large / small amount”.

我用手机付钱。
Wǒ yòng shǒujī fù qián.
I pay with my phone.
放少量的盐就行。
Fàng shǎoliàng de yán jiù xíng.
A little salt is enough.
钱不够，我们算算还差多少。
Qián bú gòu, wǒmen suànsuan hái chà duōshao.
There isn’t enough money — let’s work out how much we’re short.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    我每个月交房租。 Wǒ měi ge yuè jiāo fángzū. — I pay the rent every month.

  2. Answer
    这个数字不对。 Zhège shùzì bú duì. — This figure is wrong.

  3. Answer
    别浪费时间了。 Bié làngfèi shíjiān le. — Stop wasting time.

  4. Answer
    年底公司发了奖金。 Niándǐ gōngsī fāle jiǎngjīn. — At the end of the year the company paid a bonus.

2. Choose the correct option

  1. 钱___花完了，一点儿也没剩。

    Answer
    全
  2. “At least a hundred yuan a week”

    Answer
    每周至少一百块
  3. 这件衣服三百块，不___贵。

    Answer
    算
  4. The opposite of 节约:

    Answer
    浪费

3. Build the sentence

  1. I spent three hundred on books alone.

    Answer
    我光买书就花了三百。 Wǒ guāng mǎi shū jiù huāle sānbǎi.
  2. This year’s income has grown a great deal.

    Answer
    今年的收入大大增长了。 Jīnnián de shōurù dàdà zēngzhǎng le.
  3. A month has four weeks in all.

    Answer
    一个月共四个星期。 Yí ge yuè gòng sì ge xīngqī.
  4. You need to be more economical.

    Answer
    你要节约一点儿。 Nǐ yào jiéyuē yìdiǎnr.

4. Dialogue: answer as the speaker

You are speaker B. Pick the right reply and the conversation goes on.

A
你一个月赚多少钱？
Nǐ yí ge yuè zhuàn duōshao qián?
How much do you earn a month?
B
不多，八千左右。
Bù duō, bāqiān zuǒyòu.
Not much — about eight thousand.
A
够用吗？
Gòu yòng ma?
Is it enough?
B
基本够用，光房租就要三千。
Jīběn gòu yòng, guāng fángzū jiù yào sānqiān.
Just about — the rent alone is three thousand.
A
能存钱吗？
Néng cún qián ma?
Can you save any?
B
每个月至少存一千。
Měi ge yuè zhìshǎo cún yìqiān.
At least a thousand a month.

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. Our company has fifty people in total.
    Answer
    我们公司共有五十个人。
  2. You should sleep at least eight hours.
    Answer
    你至少要睡八个小时。
  3. That isn’t expensive.
    Answer
    这不算贵。

💡 Did you know?: Singles’ Day, 11 November

11 November (11.11 — four “ones”, like single people) was jokingly called “Singles’ Day” in China, and since 2009 online shops have turned it into the world’s biggest sale — 双十一 shuāng shíyī. Discounts start early, millions fill their carts and wait for midnight, and couriers, 快递, spend weeks delivering parcels. Many say it’s easy to 浪费 money on things you don’t need that day.

Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).