Buying things is where your number knowledge becomes survival Chinese, and the whole transaction runs on a handful of fixed patterns. This page assumes you already know how to read an amount — 块/毛 and the dropped final unit, covered in spoken vs written money — and shows you how to ask the price, state a per-unit rate, total it up, and understand a discount. Master these five patterns and you can shop anywhere in China.
Asking the price: 多少钱
The default question is 多少钱 (duōshao qián), literally "how-much money." You put the thing first, then the question:
这个多少钱？
zhège duōshao qián
How much is this? (neutral) — the everyday, all-purpose price question.
这件毛衣多少钱？
zhè jiàn máoyī duōshao qián
How much is this sweater? (neutral) — topic first, 多少钱 last.
The critical point for English speakers is which question word to use. Chinese has two words for "how many/much," and prices always take 多少, never 几. As explained under 几 vs 多少, 几 expects a small, countable answer (and drags a measure word along), while 多少 asks about an open, unknown quantity — exactly what a price is. Asking *几钱 is a classic beginner error; it is simply not idiomatic.
老板，这个西红柿怎么卖？
lǎobǎn, zhège xīhóngshì zěnme mài
Boss, how much are these tomatoes? (informal) — 怎么卖 asks for the rate, not a fixed total.
Per-unit prices: 一斤多少钱, 三块钱一个
Most everyday prices are rates — so much per unit. The unit is a measure word, and the two halves (price and unit) can go in either order:
- rate question: 一斤多少钱？ (yì jīn duōshao qián) "how much per catty?"
- price then unit: 三块钱一个 (sān kuài qián yí ge) "three yuan apiece"
- unit then price: 一个三块 (yí ge sān kuài) "one for three yuan"
The measure word 斤 (jīn, "catty" = 500 g) is the standard unit for produce, so 一斤多少钱 is the single most useful market phrase you can learn.
草莓一斤多少钱？
cǎoméi yì jīn duōshao qián
How much are strawberries per catty? (neutral) — the standard produce query.
这种苹果三块钱一斤，那种五块。
zhè zhǒng píngguǒ sān kuài qián yì jīn, nà zhǒng wǔ kuài
These apples are ¥3 a catty, those are ¥5. (informal) — price + 一斤, then a bare price for the second.
Remember that a whole "two" of a unit is 两, not 二: two catties is 两斤, two of something is 两个 (see 二 vs 两).
来两斤，一共多少钱？
lái liǎng jīn, yígòng duōshao qián
Give me two catties — how much altogether? (informal) — 来 for 'give me', 两斤 not 二斤.
Totals and change: 一共
To ask or state a total, add 一共 (yígòng, "altogether") before the amount. It is the word the cashier says and the word you say when you want the grand total.
一共二十七块五。
yígòng èrshíqī kuài wǔ
That's ¥27.50 in total. (neutral) — 一共 + the summed price.
三样东西，一共多少？
sān yàng dōngxī, yígòng duōshao
Three items — how much in total? (informal) — 钱 can drop after 多少 when money is obvious.
给你五十，找我二十二块五。
gěi nǐ wǔshí, zhǎo wǒ èrshí'èr kuài wǔ
Here's fifty; give me ¥22.50 back. (informal) — 找 (zhǎo) is 'to give change'.
Discounts: 打折 (and why 打八折 is 20% off)
A sale is 打折 (dǎzhé). But the Chinese discount system is stated as the fraction you still pay, not the fraction taken off — the exact reverse of English, and a reliable source of confusion. The number in 打X折 is the tenths of the price you pay:
| Chinese | You pay | English discount |
|---|---|---|
| 打九折 (dǎ jiǔ zhé) | 90% | 10% off |
| 打八折 (dǎ bā zhé) | 80% | 20% off |
| 打七五折 (dǎ qī wǔ zhé) | 75% | 25% off |
| 打五折 / 打对折 (dǎ duìzhé) | 50% | half price |
So 打八折 means you pay eight-tenths — a 20% discount, not 80% off. If you translate 折 as "the price after cutting," the whole system clicks: the higher the 折 number, the smaller the discount. This mirrors the way percentages put the reference amount first.
这件衣服打八折，八十块。
zhè jiàn yīfu dǎ bā zhé, bāshí kuài
This top is 20% off — ¥80. (informal) — 100 yuan at 打八折 = pay 80.
全场打五折，太划算了！
quánchǎng dǎ wǔ zhé, tài huásuàn le
Everything's half price — such a good deal! (informal) — 打五折 = pay 50%.
At markets, price is negotiable, so the bargaining phrase is worth having ready: 便宜点儿 (piányi diǎnr, "a bit cheaper").
太贵了，能便宜点儿吗？
tài guì le, néng piányi diǎnr ma
That's too expensive — can you go a bit cheaper? (informal) — the standard haggling line.
Common Mistakes
1. Using 几 to ask a price. Prices are open quantities, so they take 多少, not 几.
❌ 这个几钱？
Incorrect — a price uses 多少, not 几. Say 这个多少钱？
✅ 这个多少钱？
zhège duōshao qián
How much is this? — 多少 for an open amount.
2. 二 instead of 两 for a quantity. Two of a unit is 两.
❌ 二斤苹果
Incorrect — two catties is 两斤, not 二斤.
✅ 两斤苹果
liǎng jīn píngguǒ
two catties of apples — 两 before the measure word 斤.
3. Reading the discount backwards. 打X折 is the fraction you pay, so a bigger number is a smaller discount.
❌ 打二折
Wrong for '20% off' — 打二折 means you pay only 20% (an 80% discount!). '20% off' is 打八折.
✅ 打八折
dǎ bā zhé
20% off — you pay eight-tenths (80%) of the price.
4. Adding a preposition before the per-unit price. Chinese juxtaposes price and unit directly — no "for" or "per."
✅ 三块钱一个
sān kuài qián yí ge
three yuan apiece — no word for 'per'; the two chunks simply sit together.
Key Takeaways
- Ask with 多少钱 (or 怎么卖 for produce) — never 几钱.
- State rates as price + 一 + measure word (三块钱一个) or 一 + measure word + price (一个三块); 一斤多少钱 is the key market phrase.
- Total with 一共; ask for change with 找.
- 打X折 = pay X-tenths, so 打八折 is a 20% discount and 打五折 / 打对折 is half price.
- Two of any unit is 两 (两斤, 两个), not 二.
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Start learning Chinese→Related Topics
- Money: 块/毛/分 vs 元/角/分HSK 1 — Chinese money has two registers: you SPEAK 块/毛/分 (三块五) but WRITE 元/角/分 (三元五角). The trailing unit is dropped in speech (三块五 = ¥3.50), and 'two yuan' is 两块, never 二块.
- 几 vs 多少HSK 1 — 几 (jǐ) and 多少 (duōshao) both ask 'how many/much', but 几 expects a small count and needs a measure word (几个人), while 多少 covers any or unknown quantity and usually drops it (多少钱).
- 二 vs 两HSK 1 — Chinese has two words for 'two': 二 (èr) is the counting digit — used in ordinals, tens, years and decimals — while 两 (liǎng) means 'two of something' before a measure word and before 千/万/亿.
- 块 (Piece / Money)HSK 1 — 块 (kuài) is the measure word for lump- or slab-shaped pieces — cake, soap, rock, cloth, a watch — and, just as importantly, it is the everyday spoken word for the currency unit 元: prices you hear use 块 (五块钱), not 元.