Learn how to ask about prices
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone. I’m Becky. Welcome back to VietnamesePod101.com This is the Absolute Beginner series, Season 1, Lesson 11 - Bargaining At A Vietnamese Market. |
| Huyen: Xin chào! I’m Huyen. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask about prices. The conversation takes place at the market and is between Mai and the seller. They’re using daily conversational language. |
| Huyen: Right, because that’s the language used in outdoor markets in Vietnam. |
| Becky: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mai: Xin hỏi, cái này bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Seller: 30 nghìn. |
| Mai: Đắt quá. Giảm giá chút đi! 20 nghìn được không? |
| Seller: Thôi cũng được. |
| Mai: Vậy cho tôi lấy cái này. |
| Mai: Excuse me, how much is this? |
| Seller: Thirty thousand dong. |
| Mai: So expensive. Can you lower the price a little bit? What about twenty thousand dong? |
| Seller: That's fine. |
| Mai: Ok, I'll take this. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Let’s talk about going shopping in Vietnam. |
| When you go shopping in Vietnam, it’s very common to bargain, especially in the market. |
| How much should we ask to lower prices? |
| Huyen: Well, there is no specific rule because it depends on the items you are buying. |
| Becky: Foreigners are more likely to buy things at higher prices than the value. |
| Huyen: True, but not all Vietnamese people are good at bargaining. Some shops charge much higher prices than the true value, and others just increase the price a little. |
| Becky: So it would be better if you check the average price of the item you want to buy, before going shopping so that you won’t pay a huge amount for a truly inexpensive item. |
| Huyen: Right, and if you’re not into bargaining, you can go to the supermarkets. |
| Becky: Yeah, I guess that’s where all products have price tags. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. First we have... |
| Huyen: ...quá... |
| Becky: “too”, “so”, or “very”. This adverb is added after an adjective or another adverb to enhance their meaning. It can express a compliment or a criticism. Huyen, can you give an example of a compliment? |
| Huyen: Sure. Bức tranh này đẹp quá. |
| Becky: “This painting is so beautiful.” And criticism? |
| Huyen: Canh này mặn quá. |
| Becky: “This soup is too salty.” And what’s the next word? |
| Huyen: chút |
| Becky: “A little” |
| Huyen: You can say Chút or một chút... |
| Becky: ...both mean the same thing. They are commonly used in daily conversation. For example... |
| Huyen: ...Cho hỏi chút. |
| Becky: “Can I ask you a little question?” |
| Huyen: Ăn một chút đi! |
| Becky: “Eat a little, please.” |
| Huyen: Nghỉ một chút. |
| Becky: “Relax a little.” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask the question “How much is this?” |
| Huyen: Cái này bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Becky: When you want to ask about the price of an item, say the item at the beginning of the sentence, then add... |
| Huyen: ...Bao nhiêu tiền... |
| Becky: ...which literally means “how much money?” If you point at something and ask its price, you can say... |
| Huyen: ...cái này… |
| Becky: ...meaning “this”, or… |
| Huyen: ...cái kia… |
| Becky: ...meaning “that”, then add… |
| Huyen: ...bao nhiêu tiền. |
| Becky: Can you give us some examples? |
| Huyen: Cái này bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Becky: “How much is this?” |
| Huyen: Cái kia bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Becky: “How much is that?” The currency in Vietnam is “dong”, and a “thousand dong”, is |
| Huyen: nghìn đồng. |
| Becky: So you can use this word to answer about the price. But in most cases, people just say… |
| Huyen: ...nghìn… |
| Becky: ...and it can also be understood easily. Let’s hear some more examples. |
| Huyen: Cái kia bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Becky: “How much is that?” |
| Huyen: Ba mươi nghìn. |
| Becky: “Thirty thousand dong.” |
| Huyen: Quyển sách này bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Becky: “How much is this book?” |
| Huyen: Hai mươi nghìn. |
| Becky: “Twenty thousand dong.” |
| Huyen: Cái bút kia bao nhiêu tiền? |
| Becky: “How much is that pen?” |
| Huyen: Mười nghìn. |
| Becky: “Ten thousand dong.” Alright, are you ready to go shopping in Vietnam? Don’t forget to practice this question when you have a chance! |
Outro |
|---|
| Becky: Okay, that’s it for this lesson. For a review of this lesson, check the lesson notes. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Huyen: Tạm biệt! |
Comments
Hide