Common Greeting
The Chinese often greet each other by asking if the other person has eaten. It is customary to answer yes even if you have not actually eaten.
A: 吃饭了吗? chīfàn le ma? – (Did you) eat yet?
B: 吃了. chī le – (I) Did.
多 duō
“duō”, when used after a number, means “more than”, “…plus”:
- 三千多个学生 – sānqiān duō gè xuésheng – 3000+ students
- 七百多个老师 – qībǎi duō gè lǎoshī – more than seven hundred teachers
- 八万多(个)人 – bāwàn duō (gè)* rén – more than eighty thousand peopole
不到 búdào
“búdào” is uded BEFORE a number to means “less than”:
- 不到五千辆汽车 – búdào wǔqiān liàng qìchē – less than five thousand cars
- 不到三百块 – búdào sānbǎi kuài – less than $300
- 不到十分钟 – búdào shí fēnzhōng – less than ten minutes
- 不到六十(个)人 – búdào liùshí (gè)* rén – less than sixty people
*Here the measure word “gè” is optional
Fraction
三分之一 – sān fēnzhī yī – one third
四分之三 – sì fēnzhī sān – three quarters
百分之二十 – bǎi fēnzhī èrshí – 20 percent
Advertisement
