HSK 2 · Lesson 3你喜欢什么颜色？ What colour do you like?

Colours and shopping: 红色的 “a red one” — the 的 phrase; doubled adjectives 高高的; the measure words 条 and 包; ten thousands — 万; 什么的 “and so on”.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

At the mall

A
这条裤子怎么样？
Zhè tiáo kùzi zěnmeyàng?
What do you think of these trousers?
B
颜色不太好看。有没有黑色的？
Yánsè bú tài hǎokàn. Yǒu méiyǒu hēisè de?
The colour isn’t great. Do they have black ones?
A
有，这条黑色的很漂亮。
Yǒu, zhè tiáo hēisè de hěn piàoliang.
Yes, these black ones are really nice.
B
好，我买这条。我还想买一个书包。
Hǎo, wǒ mǎi zhè tiáo. Wǒ hái xiǎng mǎi yí ge shūbāo.
OK, I’ll take them. I also want to buy a school bag.
A
那边有很多书包，白色的、红色的、绿色的什么的。
Nàbiān yǒu hěn duō shūbāo, báisè de, hóngsè de, lǜsè de shénmede.
There are lots of bags over there — white, red, green and so on.
B
我要红色的。
Wǒ yào hóngsè de.
I want a red one.

A present

A
这个手表多少钱？
Zhège shǒubiǎo duōshao qián?
How much is this watch?
B
一万二。
Yíwàn èr.
Twelve thousand.
A
这么贵啊！有便宜一点儿的吗？
Zhème guì a! Yǒu piányi yìdiǎnr de ma?
That expensive! Is there a cheaper one?
B
那个白色的便宜，两千块。
Nàge báisè de piányi, liǎngqiān kuài.
That white one is cheaper — two thousand.
A
好，我拿这个。
Hǎo, wǒ ná zhège.
Fine, I’ll take this one.

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. The 的 phrase: 红色的, 我的, 新的

adjective / person + 的 (= the thing)

When it is clear what you mean, drop the noun after 的: 红色的 “a red one”, 我的 “mine”, 新的 “a new one”, 便宜一点儿的 “a cheaper one”. 有没有黑色的？ “do you have black ones?”.

我要红色的。
Wǒ yào hóngsè de.
I want a red one.
这本书是新的。
Zhè běn shū shì xīn de.
This book is new.

2. Doubled adjectives: 高高的, 高高兴兴

An adjective can be doubled for a vivid description: 高高的 “nice and tall”, 长长的 “long, long”, 大大的. Two-syllable ones double each syllable: 高兴 → 高高兴兴, 漂亮 → 漂漂亮亮. The doubled form is usually followed by 的 or 地; no 很 before it.

她的个子高高的。
Tā de gèzi gāogāo de.
She’s nice and tall.
孩子们高高兴兴地去学校。
Háizimen gāogāoxìngxìng de qù xuéxiào.
The children happily go to school.

3. Measure words 条 and 包

条 is for long, flexible things: 一条裤子 “a pair of trousers”, 一条路 “a road”, 一条鱼 “a fish”. 包 means “a packet, a bag”: 一包茶 “a packet of tea”. It is a “borrowed” measure word, like 一杯水.

我买了两条裤子。
Wǒ mǎile liǎng tiáo kùzi.
I bought two pairs of trousers.
给我一包茶。
Gěi wǒ yì bāo chá.
Give me a packet of tea.

4. 万 — ten thousand

Chinese counts large numbers in ten thousands: 一万 = 10,000, 两万 = 20,000, 十万 = 100,000. 一万二 is 12,000 (just as 一百二 = 120). Before 万 and 千 “two” is 两: 两万, 两千.

这个手表一万块。
Zhège shǒubiǎo yíwàn kuài.
This watch costs ten thousand.
他们学校有两万名学生。
Tāmen xuéxiào yǒu liǎngwàn míng xuésheng.
Their university has twenty thousand students.

5. 什么的 “and so on”

什么的 at the end of a list means “and so on, that sort of thing”: 我买了本子、笔什么的 “I bought notebooks, pens and stuff”.

我买了本子、笔什么的。
Wǒ mǎile běnzi, bǐ shénmede.
I bought notebooks, pens and so on.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    有没有黑色的？ Yǒu méiyǒu hēisè de? — Do you have black ones?

  2. Answer
    这条裤子很漂亮。 Zhè tiáo kùzi hěn piàoliang. — These trousers are very nice.

  3. Answer
    一万二。 Yíwàn èr. — 12 000

  4. Answer
    我买了本子、笔什么的。 Wǒ mǎile běnzi, bǐ shénmede. — I bought notebooks, pens and so on.

2. Choose the missing word

  1. 我买了一___裤子。

    Answer
    条
  2. “I want a red one”: 我要红色___。

    Answer
    的
  3. 20 000 = ___

    Answer
    两万
  4. “The children happily go to school”: 孩子们___地去学校。

    Answer
    高高兴兴

3. Build the sentence

  1. What colour do you like?

    Answer
    你喜欢什么颜色？ Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yánsè?
  2. This bag is mine.

    Answer
    这个书包是我的。 Zhège shūbāo shì wǒ de.
  3. Is there a cheaper one?

    Answer
    有便宜一点儿的吗？ Yǒu piányi yìdiǎnr de ma?
  4. Give me a packet of tea.

    Answer
    给我一包茶。 Gěi wǒ yì bāo chá.

4. Dialogue: you are the customer

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

B
你好！你想买什么？
Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ xiǎng mǎi shénme?
Hello! What would you like to buy?
A
我想买一条裤子。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yì tiáo kùzi.
I’d like a pair of trousers.
B
你喜欢什么颜色的？
Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yánsè de?
What colour would you like?
A
黑色的。
Hēisè de.
Black.
B
这条怎么样？
Zhè tiáo zěnmeyàng?
How about these?
A
很漂亮。多少钱？
Hěn piàoliang. Duōshao qián?
Very nice. How much are they?
B
两百块。
Liǎngbǎi kuài.
Two hundred yuan.

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. What colour do you like best?
    Answer
    你最喜欢什么颜色？Nǐ zuì xǐhuan shénme yánsè?
  2. This bag is mine, and that one is his.
    Answer
    这个书包是我的，那个是他的。
  3. This phone costs ten thousand.
    Answer
    这个手机一万块。Zhège shǒujī yíwàn kuài.

💡 Did you know?: Red is the colour of celebration

In China red is the colour of joy and luck: red lanterns and couplets at New Year, red envelopes with money, 红包, a red dress for the bride at a traditional wedding. On Chinese stock exchanges red shows prices going up and green going down — the opposite of Europe.

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