Chinese For Dummies (32 page)

jiànzhù guīzé
建筑规则
(
建築規則
)
(jyan-joo gway-dzuh) (
building code
)

jīngjìrén
经纪人
(
經紀人
)
(jeeng-jee-run) (
broker
)

lìxī
利息
(lee-she) (
interest
)

píngjià
评价
(
評價
)
(peeng-jya) (
appraisal
)

tóubiāo
投标
(
投標
)
(toe-byaow) (
bid
)

tóukuǎn
头款
(
頭款
) (toe-kwahn) (
down payment
)

xìnyòng bàogào
信用报告
(
信用報告
) (sheen-yoong baow-gaow) (
credit report
)

Talkin' the Talk

Serena contacts a realtor about buying a condo in Shanghai. (Track 7)

Serena:

Nǐ hǎo. Wǒ xiǎng zài Shànghǎi mǎi yíge gōngyùfáng.

nee how. waw shyahng dzye shahng-hi my ee-guh goong-yew-fahng.

Hi. I'm thinking of buying a condo in Shanghai.

Realtor:

Méiyǒu wèntǐ. Wǒ jiù shì yíge fángdìchǎn jīngjìrén. Hěn yuànyì bāngmáng.

mayo one-tee. waw jyo shir ee-guh fahng-dee-chahn jeeng-jee-run. hun ywan-yee bahng-mahng.

No problem. I'm a real estate broker. I'd be more than happy to help you.

Serena:

Nà tài hǎole. Zài něige dìqū mǎi fángzi zuì hǎo?

nah tye haow-luh. dzye nay-guh dee-chyew my fahng-dzuh dzway how?

That's great. Which area do you consider to be the best to buy some property?

Realtor:

Shànghǎi yǒu hěn duō hěn hǎo de fángdìchǎn. Kěnéng zuì qiǎngshǒu de shì Hóngqiáo hé Jīnqiáo. Hěn duō wàiguó bàngōngshì xiànzài zài Pǔdōng.

shahng-hi yo hun dwaw hun how duh fahng-dee-chahn. kuh-nung dzway chyahng-show duh shir hoong-chyaow huh jeen-chyaow. hun dwaw why-gwaw bahn-goong shir shyan-dzye dzye poo-doong.

Shanghai has many excellent properties. Perhaps the most popular locations are Hongqiao and Jinqiao. Many foreign offices are now in Pudong.

Be sure you're using the correct tone when you pronounce the letters
m-a-i
(pronounced my) in Chinese. If you say it with a third (dipping) tone,
mǎi,
it means
to buy.
If you say it with a fourth (falling) tone, however —
mài
— it means
to sell.
If you're not careful, you may end up selling something you had hoped to live in yourself.

The Chinese language is fascinating and incredibly logical. If you put
mǎi
and
mài
together and add the word
zuò
(dzwaw) (
to do
) in front of them, to say
zuò mǎimài
做买卖
(
做買賣
) (dzwaw my-my), it means
to do business.
(To buy and to sell . . . get it?)