In this dialogue, Li Ming (李明) heads to the store to purchase a new outfit, and gets help from the shopkeeper choosing the perfect one.
李明：你好！我想买一件衬衫。
店员：好的！你喜欢什么颜色？
李明：我喜欢白色的。
店员：这件白色的怎么样？很好看。
李明：可以试一下吗？
店员：可以，在那边。
李明：有点小，有大一点的吗？
店员：有的，这件大一点。
李明：很好！这件多少钱？
店员：一百二十块。
李明：好，我买这件。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 衬衫 | chèn shān | shirt |
| 颜色 | yán sè | color |
| 白色 | bái sè | white |
| 好看 | hǎo kàn | good-looking |
| 试 | shì | to try |
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 大 | dà | big |
| 块 | kuài | yuan (money) |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 明 | Míng | Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); surname Ming; Ming (c. 2000 BC), fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God |
| 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); (… |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 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) |
| 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 … |
| 件 | jiàn | item; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc |
| 店员 | diàn yuán | shop assistant; store clerk |
| 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… |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 一下 | yī xià | (after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 那边 | nà bian | over there; yonder |
| 有点 | yǒu diǎn | a little |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 大一 | dà yī | first year of university |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to admini… |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...); some (exist) |
| 多少 | duō shǎo | number; amount; somewhat |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 百 | Bǎi | surname Bai |
| 二十 | èr shí | twenty; 20 |
Li Ming: Hello! I want to buy a shirt.
Shop assistant: Okay! What color do you like?
Li Ming: I like white.
Shop assistant: How about this white one? It looks very nice.
Li Ming: Can I try it on?
Shop assistant: Yes, over there.
Li Ming: It’s a bit small. Do you have a bigger one?
Shop assistant: Yes, this one is bigger.
Li Ming: Great! How much is this one?
Shop assistant: One hundred and twenty yuan.
Li Ming: Okay, I’ll buy this one.