Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè jiā chāoshì kěyǐ yòng xiànjīn, yě kěyǐ shuākǎ, duì fùmǔ yě hěn fāngbiàn. - At this supermarket you can pay in cash or by card; it’s very convenient for my parents.

Using 家 with 超市 is the natural, standard way to count or refer to a specific supermarket as a business. So 这家超市 means this supermarket (this particular store/business).

Could you say 这个超市 instead of 这家超市? Is there a difference?

You can say 这个超市, and people will understand you. However:

这家超市 is more natural and idiomatic when talking about a supermarket as a place you shop at (a business).
这个超市 is acceptable, but it sounds a bit more neutral or textbook-like.

In everyday speech, 家 is strongly preferred with shops and companies, especially when you mean “this store I go to.”

Is 这家超市可以用现金 literally “this supermarket can use cash”? That sounds strange in English. Who is actually “using” the cash?

Literally, yes, it looks like “this supermarket can use cash”, but Chinese often uses a topic-comment structure and omits obvious agents.

Think of it like:

在这家超市，可以用现金，也可以刷卡。
At this supermarket, (you/people) can pay in cash or by card.

In 这家超市可以用现金，也可以刷卡, 这家超市 sets the context/topic, and the implied subject doing the paying is “you / customers / people”, not the supermarket itself.

So the natural English is:
At this supermarket, you can pay in cash or by card.

Why is 可以 repeated: 可以用现金，也可以刷卡? Could you leave the second 可以 out?

The repetition of 可以 is normal and sounds smooth:

可以用现金，也可以刷卡。

You could say:

可以用现金，也刷卡。

but that sounds incomplete or slightly off; native speakers almost always repeat 可以 here.

Reasons:

Parallel structure:
- 可以用现金
- 也可以刷卡
  The repetition makes the sentence balanced and clear.
Without the second 可以, 也刷卡 can feel like it’s missing something, especially for this level.

So in practice, always say 可以…，也可以… in this kind of pattern.

What exactly does 也 do in 也可以刷卡? Is it “also,” “or,” or something else?

In 也可以刷卡, 也 means “also” or “as well”. The logic is:

First option: 可以用现金 – you can pay with cash.
Second option: 也可以刷卡 – you can also (alternatively) pay by card.

In English, we translate the whole thing as “you can pay in cash or by card”, but in Chinese it’s literally closer to:

You can pay with cash; you also can pay by card.

So 也 marks an additional, alternative option, which ends up being “or” in natural English.

Why is it 用现金 but just 刷卡 (without 用)? Can I say 用刷卡 or 付现金 instead?

Grammatically:

用现金 = “use cash” → “pay with cash”
- 用 = use/by means of
- 现金 = cash
刷卡 is a set verb-object phrase meaning “swipe a card / pay by card.”
- 刷 = to swipe
- 卡 = card

You usually do not say 用刷卡. That would sound wrong because 刷卡 is already a complete verb phrase.

Alternatives that are also common:

付现金 – pay in cash
用现金付钱 – pay money using cash
用卡 – use a card (more general, but less common than 刷卡 for paying)

In this sentence, 用现金 / 刷卡 is a very natural and common pairing.

What does 刷卡 literally mean, and does it only refer to swiping a physical card?

Literally:

刷卡 = 刷 (to swipe/brush) + 卡 (card)
→ “swipe card”

Originally it referred to physically swiping a magnetic stripe card. In everyday modern usage, it broadly means:

to pay by bank card / credit card at a terminal.

Even with chip cards or tap-to-pay, people still say 刷卡 in casual speech. It generally just means “pay by card,” not necessarily a literal swiping motion.

In 对父母也很方便, what does 对 mean, and how does this structure work?

Here, 对 means “to / for / with regard to”. The structure is:

对 + person + 很 + adjective

So:

对父母也很方便
= “(It) is also very convenient for (the) parents.”

Other examples with the same pattern:

对我很好 – (He/She) is very good to me.
对学生很重要 – It’s very important for students.
对他来说很难 – For him, it’s very difficult.

So 对父母 marks who this convenience is in relation to.

Why is it just 父母 and not 我的父母 or 他们的父母? How do we know whose parents?

Chinese often leaves out possessive words like 我 / 你 / 他 when context makes it obvious.

父母 on its own usually means “my parents / our parents / their parents” depending on context.
If the speaker is talking about their family life, 父母 would be understood as their own parents.
If talking about someone else’s family, it could mean that person’s parents.

If you want to be explicit, you can say:

对我父母也很方便 – It’s also very convenient for my parents.
对他们父母也很方便 – …for their parents.

But in natural conversation, 父母 alone is often enough.

What is the role of 很 in 很方便? Does it always mean “very”? Can we just say 也方便?

In 也很方便, 很 does two things:

Degree: literally “very convenient.”
Grammar smoothing: in modern Mandarin, 很 often appears before adjectives even when it doesn’t strongly mean “very.” It prevents the sentence from sounding like an A = B definition.

Compare:

他高。 – sounds a bit abrupt or like a comparison (“He is tall (compared to…?)”).
他很高。 – natural, neutral “He is tall.”

Similarly:

也方便 is not wrong, but 也很方便 sounds more natural and complete.
In many contexts you can translate 很方便 simply as “(is) convenient” without stressing “very” too much.

Why is 也 placed before 很方便 in 对父母也很方便? Could we say 对父母很也方便 or 也对父母很方便?

The natural word order is:

对父母也很方便

Breakdown:

对父母 – for the parents
也 – also
很方便 – (is) very convenient

Rules of thumb:

也 usually comes before the main adjective phrase:
- 也很贵 – also very expensive
- 也很好 – also very good
You cannot say 很也方便 – the degree word 很 must come directly before the adjective 方便.
也对父母很方便 is possible but has a different emphasis; it sounds like you are contrasting 对父母 with some other group, which is less natural here. The given sentence focuses on:

It’s convenient for parents too (in addition to whoever was mentioned before).

So 对父母也很方便 is the standard, neutral order.

How does 也可以…，也可以… compare to patterns like 既…又… or 又…又…?

All three express two options or two qualities, but with slightly different flavors.

可以用现金，也可以刷卡。
Neutral, common in speech.
→ You can pay in cash; you can also pay by card.
既可以用现金，又可以刷卡。
A bit more formal or emphatic.
→ You can both pay in cash and pay by card.
又可以用现金，又可以刷卡。
Emphasizes both options, often with a positive tone.
→ You can pay in cash, and you can also pay by card (it’s great).

For everyday conversation, 可以…，也可以… is the most common and natural.

Could we add 而且 or 并且 before 对父母也很方便? How would the meaning change?

Yes, you can say:

这家超市可以用现金，也可以刷卡，而且对父母也很方便。
这家超市可以用现金，也可以刷卡，并且对父母也很方便。

Adding 而且 / 并且:

makes the sentence sound more connected and slightly more formal,
emphasizes that being convenient for the parents is an additional positive point on top of the payment options.

Without them:

…也可以刷卡，对父母也很方便。
is still correct and natural, just a bit more direct and simple.

Overall, what is the most natural English way to understand the structure of this whole sentence?

Piece by piece:

这家超市可以用现金，也可以刷卡，
→ At this supermarket, you can pay in cash or by card,
对父母也很方便。
→ and it’s also very convenient for (our/my/their) parents.

So a smooth, natural English version is:

“At this supermarket you can pay in cash or by card, and it’s also very convenient for my parents.”