How to pay the bill

This video provides many examples of situational usages to explain how to ask the price and make a payment in Chinese. In Chinese, we use the following pattern to ask the price.

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……多少钱？ (duōshao qián?)

“多少(duōshao)” is used to ask about number. “钱(qián)” means “money”, “多少钱(duōshaoqián)” means “how much is it?”

If you want to know “How much is it in total?”, you can say “一共多少钱？(Yígòng duōshao qián?)” .

In order to answer the above question, you need to be familiar with the numbers in Chinese.

For example,

一共多少钱？ (Yígòng duōshao qián?) 一共150块/元。 (Yígòng 150kuài/yuán.)

“块(kuài)” or “元(yuán)” is the largest unit for Chinese currency RMB, and “块(kuài)” is more of spoken style.

“毛(máo)” or “角(jiǎo)” is smaller unit , and “毛(máo)” is used more often in speaking. “1元(yuán)” or “1块(kuài)” equals “10 角(jiǎo)” or “10毛(máo)”.

If you want to ask for the price of just one thing and not the total price, we don’t use “一共(yígòng)”.

We just say “这个多少钱？(Zhège duōshao qián?)” or to be more specific, “这个牛肉多少钱？(Zhège niúròu duōshao qián?)”.

The different usage of “多少(duōshao)” and “几(jǐ)”

“多少(duōshao)” can be used for both countable nouns and uncountable nouns. The measure word can be omitted if the noun is a countable one after “多少(duōshao)”.

“几(jǐ)” is only used for a countable noun and a small amount as well, usually under 10.

There should always be a measure word after “几(jǐ)”, like “几个(jǐ gè)”, “几口(jǐ kǒu)”, “几杯(jǐ bēi)”.