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Telling Money and Price in Mandarin Chinese

Telling Money and Price in Mandarin Chinese 钱 (qián) & 价格 (jiàgé)

In this lesson, you will learn how to talk about money and price in Mandarin Chinese.

1. Chinese Currency Units

Chinese money is called Renminbi (人民币 rénmínbì). The basic unit is the 元 (yuán), but in spoken Chinese, people often say:

N0 Currency Units Usage
Character Pinyin
1 元 yuán basic unit of Chinese currency (written/formal)
2 块 kuài basic unit of Chinese currency (spoken/informal) 
3 角 jiǎo 1/10 of a yuan (written/formal) 
4 毛 máo 1/10 of a yuan (spoken/informal) 
5 分 fēn 1/100 of a yuan (small change) 

 

2. How to Say Prices in Mandarin

✅ General Pattern:
Number + Unit

Please see the table below.

No Price How to Read
Formal (written) Pinyin Spoken (daily) Pinyin
1 ¥1.00 一元 Yī yuán 一块 yī kuài
2 ¥2.50 二元五角 Èr yuán wǔjiǎo 两块五 liǎng kuài wǔ
3 ¥3.20 三元二角 Sān yuán èr jiǎo 三块二 sān kuài èr
4 ¥4.10 四元一角 Sì yuán yījiǎo 四块一 sì kuài yī
5 ¥5.99 五元九角九分 Wǔ yuán jiǔ jiǎo jiǔ fēn 五块九毛九 wǔ kuài jiǔ máo jiǔ
6 ¥6.30 六元三角 Liù yuán sānjiǎo 六块三 liù kuài sān
7 ¥7.80 七元八角 Qī yuán bājiǎo 七块八 qī kuài bā
8 ¥8.05 八元零五分 Bā yuán líng wǔ fēn 八块零五 bā kuài líng wǔ
9 ¥9.50 九元五角 Jiǔ yuán wǔjiǎo 九块五 jiǔ kuài wǔ
10 ¥10.00 十元 Shí yuán 十块 shí kuài

 

3. Common Sentence Patterns

a. 多少钱？
Duōshǎo qián?
How much is it?

b. 这个多少钱？
Zhège duōshǎo qián?
How much is this?

c. 它五块钱。
Tā wǔ kuài qián.
It is five yuan.

d. 一共多少钱？
Yígòng duōshǎo qián?
How much in total?

e. 太贵了！
Tài guì le!
Too expensive!

f. 可以便宜一点吗？
Kěyǐ piányi yìdiǎn ma?
Can it be a little cheaper?

4. Useful Words for Shopping

No Words Examples in Sentences
Character Pinyin Meaning
1 钱 qián money 我没有带钱。
Wǒ méiyǒu dài qián.
I didn’t bring money.
2 便宜 piányi cheap 这件衣服很便宜。
Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn piányi.
This piece of clothing is very cheap.
3 贵 guì expensive 这台电脑太贵了。
Zhè tái diànnǎo tài guì le.
This computer is too expensive.
4 一共 yígòng total 一共多少钱？
Yígòng duōshǎo qián?
How much is it in total?
5 买 mǎi to buy 我想买一瓶水。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yì píng shuǐ.
I want to buy a bottle of water.
6 卖 mài to sell 他们在卖水果。
Tāmen zài mài shuǐguǒ.
They are selling fruit.
7 商店 shāngdiàn store 这是一家文具商店。
Zhè shì yì jiā wénjù shāngdiàn.
This is a stationery store.
8 商场 shāngchǎng shopping mall 我们去商场逛逛吧。
Wǒmen qù shāngchǎng guàngguàng ba.
Let’s go walk around the mall.
9 市场 shìchǎng market 我在市场买了菜。
Wǒ zài shìchǎng mǎi le cài.
I bought vegetables at the market.
10 多少钱 duōshǎo qián how much money 这个包包多少钱？
Zhège bāobāo duōshǎo qián?
How much is this bag?

6. Dialogue

Practice the following dialogue about buying a book 📚 at a bookstore.

👧 A:
你好，请问这本书多少钱？
Nǐ hǎo, qǐngwèn zhè běn shū duōshǎo qián?
Hi, how much is this book?

🧑 B:
这本书十五块钱。
Zhè běn shū shíwǔ kuài qián.
This book is 15 yuan.

👧 A:
可以便宜一点吗？
Kěyǐ piányi yìdiǎn ma?
Can it be a bit cheaper?

🧑 B:
好吧，十三块卖给你。
Hǎo ba, shísān kuài mài gěi nǐ.
Okay, I’ll sell it to you for 13 yuan.

👧 A:
谢谢！
Xièxiè!
Thank you!

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