CLO_127: Buying a Train Ticket
Dialogue: Numbers
A: Ni3 yao4 dao4 na3li3?
B: Wo3 yao4 dao4 Nan2tou2.
A: Ni3 xiang3 yao4 zuo4 ji3 dian3 de che1?
B: Wo3 zai4 gan3 shi2jian1. Qing3wen4, wang3 Nan2tou2 de xia4 yi1 ban1 che1 she2me shi2hou4 hui4 dao4?
A: Wu3 fen1zhong1 yi3hou4 jiu4 you3 yi1 ban1.
B: Na4 tai4 hao3 le! Wo3 yao4 mai3 yi1 zhang1.
A: Hao3, yao4 dan1 cheng2 piao4 hai3shi4 lai2 hui2 piao4?
B: Dan1 cheng2 jiu4 hao3 le.
A: Hao3, liang3 bai3 wu3 shi2 kuai4.
B: Hao3, gei3 ni3 san1 bai3 kuai4.
A: Zhao3 ni3 wu3 shi2 kuai4.
B: Xie4 xie.
Dialogue: Tones
A: Nǐ yào dào nǎlǐ?
B: Wǒ yào dào Nántóu.
A: Nǐ xiǎng yào zuò jǐ diǎn de chē?
B: Wǒ zài gǎn shíjiān. Qǐngwèn, wǎng Nántóu de xià yī bān chē shéme shíhòu huì dào?
A: Wǔ fēnzhōng yǐhòu jiù yǒu yī bān.
B: Nà tài hǎo le! Wǒ yào mǎi yī zhāng.
A: Hǎo, yào dān chéng piào hǎishì lái huí piào?
B: Dān chéng jiù hǎo le.
A: Hǎo, liǎng bǎi wǔ shí kuài.
B: Hǎo, gěi nǐ sān bǎi kuài.
A: Zhǎo nǐ wǔ shí kuài.
B: Xiè xie.
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PDF Notes: 
September 4th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
I have a ‘de’ question: What function does the ‘de’ play in the phrase: ‘xià yì bān de fēijī ? Thanks.
September 4th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
… just to expand the question a little: Is it used in such sentences as, “I’m on the next flight” or “I’ll take the next flight” or is it just used when referring to an object of the flight, such as the flight’s ticket … Thanks.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:17 am
Hi Luobot,
For this particular measure word - bān - adding the “de” is more conventional as in the following examples:
“Wǒ shì zuò xià yī bān de fēijī.” (I am on the next flight)
“Wǒ huì zuò xià yī bān de fēijī.” (I will take the next flight)
September 5th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Thanks, Adam. Btw, the video for this lesson is excellent. Looking forward to the next batch!
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:12 am
In the introduction to the dialog, Kiran says 他要坐火车去玩 (tā yào zuò huǒ chē qù wán) . I’m not sure why the ‘wan’ is at the end of the phrase.. Does it imply that the man wants to take the train to play
Apologies if ‘qu wan’ is a construction that been explained previously!
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 am
Hi Gareth,
Good question! The qù wán basically means “go out for fun” (as opposed to for a specific purpose). The wán (for fun) is used more often in Chinese than its English counterpart, which is why it sometimes sounds a bit strange. So the translation here could be “he is going to take the train to go out for fun.”
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Thanks Adam! So it seems that the wan is something ‘neutralish’ to put on the end of qu… in much the same way that other verbs need something after them…. eg, jiao shu (rather than just jiao), chi fan (rather than just chi), fu qian (rather than just fu), etc
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Hi Gareth,
It’s not quite the same. In the examples you gave - jiaoshu, chifan and fuqian, you’re combining a verb with a noun, which is a common structure (verb-noun). Here the speaker is just specifying that the visit is meant to be a fun visit. Compare the following:
1. Wǒ yào qù. (I want to go / I am going).
1. Wǒ yào qù wán. (I want to go for fun / I’m going for fun).
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 am
Ahh! Thanks heaps for clearing that up, Adam! I’m glad I mentioned the misconception or it would have turned into one of those things that one mistakenly convinces themselves of! I guess I was just trying to rationalise the idea of saying that you’re going somewhere “for fun”
July 28th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
adam:
perhaps this has been covered in another lesson but i have a question regarding the use of dao versus qu (as in the first two lines of dialogue). is it more common or appropriate to use dao instead of qu when talking about travel destinations, as in this dialogue? are there rules as to when either verb is more appropriate?
July 30th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Hi Thomas,
There is no specific rule - just a matter of what aspect you want to emphasize. You can think of the difference as being “where do you want to go?” versus “where do you want to get off at?” You can also combine both together, such as:
A: Nǐ yào dào nǎlǐ qù?
B: Wǒ yào dào Nántóu qù.
Hope that helps!
July 30th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
adam:
very helpful. thanks.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Can you please explain this phrase: wǒmen kàndào ge zhǒng bù yíyàng de piào, which the mouseover translates as “we can see two different types of tickets”? I guess bu yiyang means “not the same” and thus “two”?
November 30th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Hi Judith, there was an error in the pinyin that I have since corrected (in the complete transcript on the site). It should say “wǒmen kàndào liǎng ge bù yíyàng de piào” which translates to “we can see two different types of tickets.” The “liǎngge” means two and the “bù yíyàng” means “not same” or “different”.
Let me know if it makes more sense now!
November 30th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Ah, yes indeed! Thank you.