Xiaoyu is looking for a coat for her father. The black one looks too old; the day's discount settles it.
Xiaoyu
你好，我想看看大衣。
Nǐ hǎo, wǒ xiǎng kànkan dàyī.
Hello, I would like to look at coats.
The shop assistant
给您自己买吗？
Gěi nín zìjǐ mǎi ma ?
Is it for yourself?
Xiaoyu
给我爸爸买。他五十多岁。
Gěi wǒ bàba mǎi. Tā wǔshí duō suì.
It is for my father. He is in his fifties.
The shop assistant
这件黑的怎么样？很多人买。
Zhè jiàn hēi de zěnmeyàng ? Hěn duō rén mǎi.
How about this black one? A lot of people buy it.
Xiaoyu
黑的太老了。有别的颜色吗？
Hēi de tài lǎo le. Yǒu biéde yánsè ma ?
Black looks too old. Do you have other colours?
The shop assistant
有蓝的，也有灰的。
Yǒu lán de, yě yǒu huī de.
There is blue, and grey as well.
Xiaoyu
蓝的好看。多少钱？
Lán de hǎokàn. Duōshao qián ?
The blue one is nice. How much is it?
The shop assistant
六百八。今天打八折。
Liùbǎi bā. Jīntiān dǎ bā zhé.
Six hundred and eighty. Today it is twenty per cent off.
Xiaoyu
那就是五百四十四。我要这件。
Nà jiù shì wǔbǎi sìshí sì. Wǒ yào zhè jiàn.
That makes five hundred and forty-four. I will take this one.
The shop assistant
好的，给您包上。
Hǎo de, gěi nín bāo shàng.
Very good, I will wrap it for you.
八折 means you pay eight tenths of the marked price, so twenty per cent less. 七折 is thirty per cent off, 五折 is half, 九五折 is five per cent. English announces the reduction, Chinese announces the share you still pay: exactly the other way round, and reading it backwards can be a difference of several hundred yuan.
件 counts what is worn on the upper body: 一件大衣, 一件衬衫, 一件衣服. The lower half is counted in 条, the measure word for long things: 一条裤子, a pair of trousers. Shoes come in pairs, 一双鞋, and hats take 顶.
有别的颜色吗 asks for colours other than the one just shown. 别的 goes before the noun, and can stand alone when the noun is obvious: 我要别的. Not to be confused with 另外, which adds rather than replaces, nor with 其他, which is more written.
