Level B · Elementary

The hotel is full

There are no rooms left. The receptionist points to another hotel and rings to check.

What you learn to do

  • asking for a room
  • understanding that there are none left
  • asking for somewhere else to try
  • comparing two hotels
  1. Xiaoyu

    还有房间

    Nín hǎo, wǒ xiǎng zhù yī wǎn, háiyǒu fángjiān ma ?

    Hello, I would like a room for one night, do you have any left?

  2. The receptionist

    对不起今天

    Duìbuqǐ, jīntiān mǎn le.

    I am sorry, we are full tonight.

  3. Xiaoyu

    还有房间

    Wǒ zài wǎng shàng kàn háiyǒu fángjiān a.

    The website was still showing rooms, though.

  4. The receptionist

    分钟出去

    Wǎng shàng nà liǎng jiān, shí fēnzhōng qián gāng dìng chūqù.

    Those two on the website were booked ten minutes ago.

  5. Xiaoyu

    附近还有别的酒店

    Zhè fùjìn háiyǒu biéde jiǔdiàn ma ?

    Is there another hotel nearby?

  6. The receptionist

    虽然一点儿但是干净

    Guò le zhè tiáo jiē yǒu yī jiā, suīrán jiù yīdiǎnr, dànshì hěn gānjìng.

    There is one past this street. It is a little older, but very clean.

  7. Xiaoyu

    多少

    Duōshao qián yī wǎn ?

    How much a night?

  8. The receptionist

    两百左右我们这儿便宜

    Liǎngbǎi zuǒyòu, bǐ wǒmen zhèr piányi.

    Around two hundred, cheaper than here.

  9. Xiaoyu

    过去

    Zǒu guòqu yào duō jiǔ ?

    How long does it take to walk there?

  10. The receptionist

    分钟电话一下没有房间

    Wǔ fēnzhōng. Wǒ bāng nín dǎ gè diànhuà, xiān wèn yīxià yǒu méiyǒu fángjiān.

    Five minutes. I will give them a ring for you and check they have a room.

  11. Xiaoyu

    谢谢

    Tài xièxie nín le.

    That is very kind of you.

Vocabulary to remember

  • 房间 fángjiān room
  • mǎn full, filled
  • dìng to book, to draw up
  • 附近 fùjìn nearby, the area around
  • 酒店 jiǔdiàn hotel
  • jiē street
  • 干净 gānjìng clean, tidy
  • jiǔ long (of time), for ages
  • 虽然 suīrán although, though

Language points

满了: full, and not full before

满了 states a condition reached, not a permanent one: the hotel has filled up. The 了 is essential; 满 on its own would be a quality, as in 满月, the full moon. The language of service uses it constantly: 卖完了, all sold; 关门了, closed now; 没位子了, no seats left. English says all of this with an adjective, Chinese with a verb followed by 了.

订出去: gone to someone else

出去 attached to a verb says the thing has gone away from the speaker: 订出去, booked by others; 卖出去, sold and out of the shop; 借出去, lent out. It is the counterpart of 进来 and 回来. Here the receptionist is not merely saying the rooms are taken: he is saying they got away from him.

虽然…但是… to recommend in spite of everything

The concession is used above all to make an imperfect thing acceptable: 虽然旧一点儿,但是很干净. You put the drawback first and what redeems it second, and the other order would be discouraging. That is how a room, a flat or a dish is sold, and the learner will hear it more often than use it.

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