Follow along as our narrator navigates the universal struggle of getting online in a coffee shop.
我走进一家咖啡店。我想用手机上网。
我看了看手机，找到了咖啡店的wifi，但是需要密码。
我走到前台，对店员说：”你好，请问wifi密码是什么？”
店员笑着说：”你先买一杯咖啡，我就告诉你。”
我说：”好的，给我一杯美式咖啡。”
我付了钱。店员给了我咖啡，还给了我一张小纸条。
纸条上写着wifi密码。我输入密码，手机连上了wifi。
我坐下来，喝咖啡，上网。今天真不错。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 咖啡店 | kāfēidiàn | coffee shop |
| 上网 | shàngwǎng | to go online |
| 密码 | mìmǎ | password |
| 前台 | qiántái | front desk/counter |
| 店员 | diànyuán | shop staff/clerk |
| 美式咖啡 | měishì kāfēi | Americano coffee |
| 付钱 | fùqián | to pay money |
| 纸条 | zhǐtiáo | slip of paper/note |
| 输入 | shūrù | to input/enter |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 走进 | zǒu jìn | to enter; to step into |
| 一家 | yī jiā | the whole family; the same family; the family ... (when preceded by a family name); group |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 手 | shǒu | hand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work; person skilled in certain types of work; personal(ly); convenient; classifier for skill; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 请问 | qǐng wèn | Excuse me, may I ask...? |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 先 | xiān | beforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now; (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 杯 | bēi | cup; trophy cup; classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup; variant of 杯[bei1]; variant of 杯[bei1]; trophy cup; classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup |
| 咖 | gā | used in 咖喱[ga1 li2] |
| 啡 | fēi | (used in loanwords for its phonetic value) |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 付 | Fù | surname Fu |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 张 | Zhāng | surname Zhang |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 写 | xiě | to write |
| 连 | Lián | surname Lian |
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 喝 | hē | to drink; variant of 嗬[he1] |
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today; the present time; now |
| 真 | zhēn | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine |
| 不错 | bù cuò | correct; right; not bad; pretty good |
I walked into a coffee shop. I wanted to use my phone to go online.
I looked at my phone and found the coffee shop’s WiFi, but it required a password.
I walked to the front counter and said to the staff member: ‘Hello, may I ask what the WiFi password is?’
The staff member smiled and said: ‘First buy a cup of coffee, then I’ll tell you.’
I said: ‘Okay, give me an Americano.’
I paid the money. The staff member gave me the coffee and also gave me a small slip of paper.
The WiFi password was written on the slip of paper. I entered the password, and my phone connected to the WiFi.
I sat down, drank coffee, and went online. Today was really nice.