HSK5 – Finance and Business Words

Shopping in Chinese-speaking places comes with a surprise: discounts are written the opposite way from English. In English, “25% off” tells you how much you save. In Chinese, a 折扣 (zhékòu) sign (“discount”) tells you how much of the original price you still pay, counted in tenths. The verb is 打折 (dǎ zhé) (“to give a discount”), and the sign usually shows a number followed by 折 (zhé).

So a sign with the number 75 followed by 折 (zhé) is read aloud as 七五折 (qī wǔ zhé) (“seven-five”), and it means you pay 75% of the price, which is 25% off. 打八折 (dǎ bā zhé) just means 八折 (bā zhé), 80% of the price. Be careful with small numbers: 三折 (sān zhé) does not mean 3% off or 30% off. It means you pay only 30%, so it is a huge 70% discount!

Money matters

Finance and Spending Words in Chinese

Putting it all together

Examples

這雙zhè shuāng鞋子xiézi打dǎ八折bā zhé，現在xiànzài的de售價shòujià是shì四百sì bǎi元yuán这双zhè shuāng鞋子xiézi打dǎ八折bā zhé，现在xiànzài的de售价shòujià是shì四百sì bǎi元yuánThese shoes are 20% off; the current price is 400 yuan.

我wǒ在zài銀行yínháng開了kāi le一個yí ge帳戶zhànghù，每個月měi ge yuè都dōu存款cúnkuǎn我wǒ在zài银行yínháng开了kāi le一个yí ge账户zhànghù，每个月měi ge yuè都dōu存款cúnkuǎnI opened an account at the bank, and I deposit money every month.

Doing business

Business and Company Words in Chinese

Putting it all together

Examples

這家zhè jiā企業qǐyè的de總部zǒngbù在zài台北Táiběi，它的tā de產品chǎnpǐn賣到màidào很多hěn duō國家guójiā这家zhè jiā企业qǐyè的de总部zǒngbù在zài台北Táiběi，它的tā de产品chǎnpǐn卖到màidào很多hěn duō国家guójiāThis company’s headquarters is in Taipei, and its products are sold in many countries.

商家shāngjiā為了wèile銷售xiāoshòu更多gèng duō產品chǎnpǐn，常常chángcháng做zuò促銷cùxiāo活動huódòng，給gěi客戶kèhù優惠yōuhuì商家shāngjiā为了wèile销售xiāoshòu更多gèng duō产品chǎnpǐn，常常chángcháng做zuò促销cùxiāo活动huódòng，给gěi客户kèhù优惠yōuhuìTo sell more products, merchants often run promotions and give customers special offers.

Test yourself

Vocabulary Quiz