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At the Bookstore 书店(1)

China PlusPublished: 2017-11-20 15:14:11
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B: First up, what's a book, I should know how to say that in Chinese, but I've forgotten. Help me out Yaj.

Y: Mei wenti, it's 书 shu1,

B: shu1. that's easy. And what about a bookstore?

Y: it's 书店 shu1 dian4. as 店 dian4, here it means a shop selling books,

B: I see… shu1 dian4. Then where's a good bookstore?

Y: I know there are some good ones in downtown Beijing. If you want to ask it in Chinese, you may say 哪儿有好的书店?

B: na2er you3 hao3 de shu1 dian4.

Y:哪儿 na2er means where,

B: na2er,

Y:有 you3 literally means have,

B: you3,

Y:好的 hao3 de means good,

B: hao3 de,

Y:书店 shu1 dian4 is bookstore,

B: shu1 dian4,

Y:哪儿有好的书店?na2er you3 hao3 de shu1 dian4.

B: na2er you3 hao3 de shu1 dian4. Where is a good bookstore?

Conversation 1

A:哪儿有好的书店?

B:去王府井看看.那儿有个不错的书店。.

B: Hey while I'm here Y, I might have a look at the novels too.

Y: I'd like to find something to read as well. We're looking for 小说。

B:小说 xiao3 shuo1. And I bet in the big bookstores, the English language novels are probably upstairs somewhere. How do I ask them where are the English language novels?

Y: you may ask:英文小说在几层?

B: ying1 wen2 xiao3 shuo1 zai4 ji3 ceng2?

Y:英文 ying1 wen2 means English language,

B: ying1 wen2,

Y:小说 xiao3 shuo1, novels,

B: xiao3 shuo1,

Y:在 zai4 means on which floor,

B: zai4,

Y:几层 ji3 ceng2 means which floor,

B: ji3 ceng2.

Y:英文小说在几层? ying1 wen2 xiao3 shuo1 zai4 ji3 ceng2?

B: ying1 wen2 xiao3 shuo1 zai4 ji3 ceng2? Where are the English language novels? Let's say they're on the fourth floor, what will the shop assistant tell me?

Y: He or she may tell you:在四层。

B: Let me try that, zai4 si4 ceng2.

Y:在 zai4 means on,

B: zai4,

Y:四 si4 means the fourth,

B: si4,

Y:层 ceng2 means floor,

B: ceng2.

Y:在四层 zai4 si4 ceng2

B: zai4 si4 ceng2 on the fourth floor.

Conversation 2

A:英文小说在几层?

B:在四层。

B: I’ve found a swag of good novels, but I better get back to looking for some Chinese learning material. I like listening to things, what you call language tapes, as they're very useful for learning.

Y:… type in Chinese is 磁带。

B: ci2 dai4. Great, but sometimes types are not so convenient. Let's also look for some CDs, ok?

Y: Xing, we call those CD too in Chinese.

B: Great… Now it’s much easier to listen to CDs through my mp3 player when I'm out walking or riding my zixingche, my bike.

Conversation 3

A:我想买一套学中文的教材。

B:您是要磁带还是CD?

A:最好是CD。

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