Before signing, Xiaoyu asks the landlord what the deposit is for and what can be held back from it.
Xiaoyu
请问，押金是多少？
Qǐngwèn, yājīn shì duōshao ?
Excuse me, how much is the deposit?
The landlord
一个月的房租，三千块。
Yī gè yuè de fángzū, sānqiān kuài.
One month's rent, three thousand yuan.
Xiaoyu
什么时候还给我？
Shénme shíhou hái gěi wǒ ?
When do I get it back?
The landlord
你搬走的时候。房子没有问题就都退给你。
Nǐ bānzǒu de shíhou. Fángzi méiyǒu wèntí jiù dōu tuì gěi nǐ.
When you move out. If there is nothing wrong with the flat I return it in full.
Xiaoyu
要是东西坏了呢？
Yàoshi dōngxi huài le ne ?
And if something is broken?
The landlord
那就少退一些。不过用旧了不算坏。
Nà jiù shǎo tuì yīxiē. Bùguò yòng jiù le bù suàn huài.
Then I return less. But wear and tear does not count as damage.
Xiaoyu
那我想先检查一下家具。
Nà wǒ xiǎng xiān jiǎnchá yīxià jiājù.
Then I would like to check the furniture first.
The landlord
应该的。我们一起看，然后写在合同上。
Yīnggāi de. Wǒmen yīqǐ kàn, ránhòu xiě zài hétong shàng.
Quite right. Let us look together, and then put it in the contract.
Xiaoyu
好。这个门关不上，请您修一下。
Hǎo. Zhè gè mén guān bù shàng, qǐng nín xiū yīxià.
Good. This door will not shut, could you have it repaired?
The landlord
明天我就找人来修好。
Míngtiān wǒ jiù zhǎo rén lái xiū hǎo.
I will get someone in to fix it tomorrow.
Xiaoyu
谢谢您。那我今天下午交押金。
Xièxie nín. Nà wǒ jīntiān xiàwǔ jiāo yājīn.
Thank you. Then I will pay the deposit this afternoon.
In Chinese the verb states the action and a second word states what it produces: 修好, to repair and for it to be repaired; 关上, to shut and for it to be shut; 搬走, to move and to be gone. English needs two clauses where Chinese puts two syllables. Without the second word, 我修了门 says only that the door was seen to, not that it works.
Between the verb and its result you slip in 不 to say the result is out of reach: 关不上, it will not shut. The positive form takes 得 in the same place: 关得上, it does shut. Note that 不关 is something else entirely: a refusal to shut it, not an inability.
要是 opens the condition, 就 opens the consequence, and the order does not reverse: 要是东西坏了，就少退一些. In speech 要是 is commoner than 如果, which belongs to writing. The final 呢 of 要是东西坏了呢 leaves the question hanging, like our "and what if…?".
