Shopping for Stationery in Chinese: Essential Vocabulary & Dialogue 📓

Join Wang Wei and Li Na as they visit a store to buy some school supplies. In this simple dialogue, you’ll learn key Mandarin vocabulary for common stationery items like pens and notebooks, how to talk about colors, and how to express your preferences.

💬 Video Transcript

王伟: 李娜，你好！
(Wang Wei: Hello, Li Na!)

李娜: 王伟，你好！这是什么地方？
(Li Na: Hello, Wang Wei! What is this place?)

王伟: 这是一个商店。
(Wang Wei: This is a store.)

李娜: 商店？我们在这里做什么？
(Li Na: A store? What are we doing here?)

王伟: 我们在这里买东西。你看，有很多东西。
(Wang Wei: We’re here to buy things. Look, there are many things.)

李娜: 哇！你看，这是什么？
(Li Na: Wow! Look, what is this?)

王伟: 这是一个本子。
(Wang Wei: This is a notebook.)

李娜: 这个本子很好看。它是什么颜色的？
(Li Na: This notebook is very nice. What color is it?)

王伟: 它是蓝色的。你喜欢蓝色的本子吗？
(Wang Wei: It’s blue. Do you like blue notebooks?)

李娜: 我很喜欢蓝色的本子。你呢？
(Li Na: I really like blue notebooks. What about you?)

王伟: 我也喜欢蓝色的本子。蓝色很好看。
(Wang Wei: I also like blue notebooks. Blue is a nice color.)

李娜: 我要买这个本子。
(Li Na: I want to buy this notebook.)

王伟: 好的。你看那边，那是什么？
(Wang Wei: Okay. Look over there, what is that?)

李娜: 那是一支笔。
(Li Na: That is a pen.)

王伟: 对，是一支笔。你喜欢那支笔吗？
(Wang Wei: Correct, it’s a pen. Do you like that pen?)

李娜: 我看看。这支笔是黑色的。
(Li Na: Let me see. This pen is black.)

王伟: 你喜欢黑色的笔吗？
(Wang Wei: Do you like black pens?)

李娜: 我不喜欢黑色的笔。我喜欢蓝色的笔。
(Li Na: I don’t like black pens. I like blue pens.)

王伟: 我喜欢黑色的笔。我觉得黑色的笔很好。
(Wang Wei: I like black pens. I think black pens are very good.)

李娜: 你要买这支笔吗？
(Li Na: Do you want to buy this pen?)

王伟: 我要买。我要买两支黑色的笔。
(Wang Wei: I want to buy it. I want to buy two black pens.)

李娜: 你买两支笔，我买一个本子。
(Li Na: You buy two pens, I’ll buy one notebook.)

王伟: 对。你买一个蓝色的本子。
(Wang Wei: Right. You’re buying one blue notebook.)

李娜: 你买两支黑色的笔。
(Li Na: You’re buying two black pens.)

王伟: 李娜，再看这里。这也是一个本子。
(Wang Wei: Li Na, look here again. This is also a notebook.)

李娜: 哦，这个本子是红色的。
(Li Na: Oh, this notebook is red.)

王伟: 你喜欢红色的本子吗？
(Wang Wei: Do you like red notebooks?)

李娜: 我也喜欢红色的本子。红色也很好看。
(Li Na: I also like red notebooks. Red is also a nice color.)

王伟: 那你买这个红色的本子吗？
(Wang Wei: Then are you buying this red notebook?)

李娜: 不，我不买。我喜欢蓝色的本子多一点。
(Li Na: No, I’m not buying it. I like the blue notebook a little more.)

王伟: 好的。那你买蓝色的本子。
(Wang Wei: Okay. Then you buy the blue notebook.)

李娜: 嗯。你还要买什么？
(Li Na: Mmm. What else are you buying?)

王伟: 我不买了。我就买两支笔。
(Wang Wei: I’m not buying anything else. I’m just buying two pens.)

李娜: 好的。那我买一个本子。
(Li Na: Okay. Then I’ll buy one notebook.)

王伟: 我们走吧。
(Wang Wei: Let’s go.)

李娜: 好，我们走。
(Li Na: Okay, let’s go.)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some of the key words and phrases you’ll hear in the video. Practice your pronunciation with the audio clips!

🔍 Grammar Focus

Let’s look at two key grammar points from the dialogue.

1. Expressing Likes and Dislikes with 喜欢 (xǐhuān)

The verb 喜欢 (xǐhuān) means “to like”. It’s a simple and direct way to express your preferences. To say you don’t like something, you just add the negative marker 不 (bù) in front of it, making 不喜欢 (bù xǐhuān).

Notice how Wang Wei and Li Na use this pattern:

• Affirmative: 我很喜欢蓝色的本子。 (Wǒ hěn xǐhuān lánsè de běnzi.) - I really like blue notebooks.
• Negative: 我不喜欢黑色的笔。 (Wǒ bù xǐhuān hēisè de bǐ.) - I don’t like black pens.
• Question: 你喜欢红色的本子吗？ (Nǐ xǐhuān hóngsè de běnzi ma?) - Do you like red notebooks?

2. Using Measure Words: 个 (gè) and 支 (zhī)

In Mandarin, you can’t just say “one notebook” or “two pens”. You need to use a “measure word” between the number and the noun. The specific measure word you use depends on the noun. In this dialogue, you see two common ones:

• 个 (gè): A general-purpose measure word for many objects, including notebooks.

  • Example: 你买一个蓝色的本子。 (Nǐ mǎi yí ge lánsè de běnzi.) - You’re buying one blue notebook.

• 支 (zhī): A measure word for long, thin, stick-like objects, such as pens.

  • Example: 我要买两支黑色的笔。 (Wǒ yào mǎi liǎng zhī hēisè de bǐ.) - I want to buy two black pens.

Also, note that when counting two of something with a measure word, the word for “two” is 两 (liǎng), not 二 (èr).

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Use these flashcards to test your memory of the key vocabulary from our shopping trip.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the most important points to remember from this lesson:

• To talk about shopping, you can use the phrase 买东西 (mǎi dōngxi).
• The word for pen is 笔 (bǐ) and the word for notebook is 本子 (běnzi).
• To describe the color of an object, use the pattern: color + 的 (de) + noun. For example, 蓝色的本子 (lánsè de běnzi) means “blue notebook”.
• Express your preferences with 我喜欢 (wǒ xǐhuān) for “I like” and 我不喜欢 (wǒ bù xǐhuān) for “I don’t like”.
• Remember to use measure words like 个 (gè) for notebooks and 支 (zhī) for pens when counting them.

🎯 Practice Quiz

How much did you learn? Test your knowledge with these questions based on the dialogue.

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below. Use correct spelling.