Chinese For Dummies (124 page)

Nǐmen shōu bù shōu xìnyòng kǎ?
你们收不收信用卡
? (
你們收不收信用卡
?) (nee-men show boo show sheen-yoong kah?) (
Do you accept credit cards?
)

Wǒ yào yíge fángjiān zhù liǎng ge wǎnshàng.
我要一个房间住两个晚上
. (
我要一個房間住兩個晚上
.) (waw yaow ee-guh fahng-jyan joo lyahng guh wahn-shahng.) (
I'd like a room for two nights.
)

Yǒu méiyǒu shāngwù zhōngxīn?
有没有商务中心
? (
有沒有商務中心
?) (yo mayo shahng-woo joong-sheen?) (
Is there a business center?
)

When you do finally pick up your phone to reserve a room, make sure you have your credit card in front of you (refer to
Chapter 15
for more money talk).

Talkin' the Talk

Eli calls a well-known hotel chain in Hong Kong to make a three-day reservation for his whole family. The hotel clerk quickly answers his call. (Track 26)

Eli:

Qǐngwèn, nǐmen fángjiān de jiàgé shì duōshǎo?

cheeng-one, nee-men fahng-jyan duh jyah-guh shir dwaw-shaow?

May I ask, how much are your rooms?

Hotel clerk:

Wǒmen de fángjiān yì tiān wǎnshàng yì bǎi wǔ shí kuài měi yuán.

waw-men duh fahng-jyan ee tyan wahn-shahng ee bye woo shir kwye may ywan.

Our rooms are USD $150 per night.

Eli:

Nà shì dānrén fángjiān hái shì shuāngrén fángjiān de jiàgé?

nah shir dahn-run fahng-jyan hi shir shwahng-run fahng-jyan duh jyah-guh?

Is that the price of a single room or a double?

Hotel clerk:

Dānrén fángjiān hé shuāngrén fángjiān de jiàgé dōu yíyàng.

dahn-run fahng-jyan huh shwahng-run fahng-jyan duh jyah-guh doe ee-yahng.

The prices of our single and double rooms are the same.

Eli:

Hǎo jíle. Wǒ yào liǎngge dānrén fángjiān yíge shuāngrén fángjiān.

how jee-luh. waw yaow lyahng-guh dahn-run fahng-jyan ee-guh shwahng-run fahng-jyan.

Great. I'd like two single rooms and one double.

Hotel clerk:

Méiyǒu wèntí. Nǐmen yào dāi jǐ ge wǎnshàng?

mayo one-tee. nee-men yaow dye jee guh wahn-shahng?

No problem. How many nights will you be staying?

Eli:

Yígòng sān ge wǎnshàng.

ee-goong sahn guh wahn-shahng.

Altogether, three nights.

Hotel clerk:

Hǎo. Nà yígòng yìqiān sānbǎi wǔ shí kuài.

how. nah ee-goong jyo bye kwye.

Very well. That will be $1,350 altogether.

The coverb
hé
和
(huh) (
and
), along with the noun that always follows it, precedes the main verb or adjective of a sentence. (What's a
coverb?
Basically, it's a word that's technically a verb but typically acts as a preposition.) Some synonyms of
hé
are
gēn
跟
(gun),
yǔ
与
(
與
) (yew), and
tóng
同
(toong), although
tóng
translates more closely as
with.

Checking In Before You Hit the Pool

Before you can take advantage of any conveniences your hotel offers (flip to the following section), you have to officially
bànlǐ rùzhù shǒuxù
办理入住手续
(
辦理入住手續
) (bahn-lee roo-joo show-shyew) (
check in
). You don't want to be caught red handed running in the gym
or relaxing in the hot tub unless you're a bona fide guest, right? (Don't answer that.)

When you walk up to the
fàndiàn qiántái
饭店前台
(
飯店前台
) (fahn-dyan chyan-tye) (
reception desk
), you invariably find yourself needing to say one of the following sentences:

Nǐmen hái yǒu fángjiān ma?
你们还有房间吗
? (
你們還有房間嗎
?) (nee-men hi yo fahng-jyan mah?) (
Do you have any rooms available?
)

Wǒ méiyǒu yùdìng fángjiān.
我没有预定房间
. (
我沒有預定房間
.) (waw mayo yew-deeng fahng-jyan.) (
I don't have a reservation.
)