Level 3 · Lesson 13

贵不贵？
Is it expensive?

这件衣服贵不贵？多少钱？三十块，很便宜。

The A-not-A question, and asking a price with 多少钱, 块 and 元.

听 · Listen

在商店
 安娜 —  李明，这件衣服贵不贵？ 
Li Ming, is this piece of clothing expensive?  
 李明 —  多少钱？ 
How much is it?  
 安娜 —  九十块。 
Ninety kuai.  
 李明 —  九十块很贵。那件呢？ 
Ninety kuai is expensive. And that one?  
 安娜 —  那件三十块，很便宜。 
That one is thirty kuai — very cheap.  
 李明 —  这个商店卖不卖鞋？ 
Does this shop sell shoes?  
 安娜 —  卖。那双鞋是不是新的？ 
Yes. Is that pair of shoes a new one?  
 李明 —  是新的，六十块。不便宜。 
It's new, sixty kuai. Not cheap.  

讲解 · Explanation

贵不贵？是不是？卖不卖？

Here is the second way to ask a yes-no question: say the word, say 不, then say the word again. 贵不贵 means exactly what 贵吗 means, and speakers use both all day long. It works for verbs just as well as for adjectives — 是不是, 卖不卖, 好不好. Two things travel with it: the middle 不 loses its tone entirely (guì bu guì, shì bu shì), and you never add 吗 to an A-not-A question. A two-syllable word repeats whole: 便宜不便宜.

这件衣服多少钱？三十块。

多少钱 is the fixed way to ask a price — literally 'how much money'. Name the thing first, keeping its measure word: 这件衣服多少钱, 这本词典多少钱. To answer, give the number and the unit and stop; no verb is needed at all. 多少 is the open-ended 'how much' from lesson eight, so it fits any price, while 几 would expect a small number.

一块，八块，三十块。

块 kuài is the money word you say out loud: one 块 is one yuan. Its written twin is 元 yuán, which is what you see on the price tag, on the receipt and in the bank, but hardly anyone says 元 in a shop. So you read 30元 on the label and say 三十块 to the shopkeeper. And keep the two shop verbs apart: 买 mǎi in third tone is 'buy', 卖 mài in fourth tone is 'sell' — a shop 卖 and a customer 买.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
贵	expensive	also the polite 贵姓 from level 1
便宜	cheap	read piányi, never biànyí
块	kuai, the spoken unit of money	三十块
元	yuan, the written unit of money	printed on tags, said aloud as 块
卖	to sell	fourth tone; 买 mǎi 'buy' is third

练习 · Practice

这本书______？ Ask 'Is this book expensive?' without using 吗.

商店______书，我______书。 The shop ___ books, I ___ books.

这支笔多少______？ How much is this pen?

排一排。 Arrange the words to ask: 'Is this piece of clothing expensive?'

贵、便宜、块、元、卖 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

这本书多少钱？——十块。贵不贵？——不贵，很便宜。

Play both parts of a shop conversation out loud. Point at three things near you, ask 多少钱 for each with the right measure word, invent a price in 块, and judge it with 贵不贵. Then ask the same three questions again with 吗 instead — 贵吗 — and hear how the two forms carry exactly the same meaning.