Xiaoyu views a flat with an agent. The rent, the floor area, the distance from the metro.
Xiaoyu
您好，我想租一套房子。
Nín hǎo, wǒ xiǎng zū yī tào fángzi.
Hello, I would like to rent a flat.
The agent
您好。想租多大的？
Nín hǎo. Xiǎng zū duō dà de ?
Hello. How big were you thinking?
Xiaoyu
六十平方米左右就行，最好离地铁近一点儿。
Liùshí píngfāngmǐ zuǒyòu jiù xíng, zuìhǎo lí dìtiě jìn yīdiǎnr.
Sixty square metres or so would do, and near the metro if possible.
The agent
这套在三楼，六十五平方米，一个月三千块。
Zhè tào zài sān lóu, liùshíwǔ píngfāngmǐ, yī gè yuè sānqiān kuài.
This one is on the third floor, sixty-five square metres, three thousand a month.
Xiaoyu
有点儿贵。还有别的吗？
Yǒudiǎnr guì. Háiyǒu biéde ma ?
That is a bit steep. Do you have others?
The agent
楼上那套比这套便宜五百，不过小一些。
Lóushàng nà tào bǐ zhè tào piányi wǔbǎi, bùguò xiǎo yīxiē.
The one above is five hundred cheaper than this, though a little smaller.
Xiaoyu
水费和电费在房租里吗？
Shuǐfèi hé diànfèi zài fángzū lǐ ma ?
Are water and electricity included in the rent?
The agent
不在。这两个要自己交。
Bù zài. Zhè liǎng gè yào zìjǐ jiāo.
They are not. Those two are down to you.
Xiaoyu
走路到地铁站要多长时间？
Zǒulù dào dìtiězhàn yào duō cháng shíjiān ?
How long does it take to walk to the metro station?
The agent
十分钟。您现在想上去看看吗？
Shí fēnzhōng. Nín xiànzài xiǎng shàngqù kànkan ma ?
Ten minutes. Would you like to go up and see it now?
Xiaoyu
想。麻烦您了。
Xiǎng. Máfan nín le.
I would. Thank you for your trouble.
A 比 B followed by the adjective: 这套比那套贵, this one is dearer than that one. When you put a figure on the gap, the figure goes AFTER the adjective and never before: 便宜五百, cheaper by five hundred. English puts the amount at the end of the sentence; Chinese sticks it to the word it measures. So you do not say 比这套五百便宜.
Both translate as "a bit" and they do not swap. 有点儿 goes BEFORE the adjective and always carries a complaint: 有点儿贵, a bit expensive, meaning too expensive for me. 一点儿 goes AFTER and softens a comparison: 小一点儿, a bit smaller. 一点儿贵 does not parse, and 有点儿小一点儿 still less.
In China, street level is 一楼. 三楼 is therefore what Britain calls the second floor, and a building announced as 六楼 has five levels above the ground. The numbering follows American usage, not British: it is a constant source of error when flat-hunting, and the figure in the lift is the Chinese one.
