Lesson Three Going to a place Part 1

In this lesson I’ll teach you three essential expressions that can help you when taking a taxi in China.

1. “I would like to go to…”

2. “I am getting off here.”

3. “Could I have a receipt please?”

Actually these Chinese expressions are very simple, short and straight forward without any “could, would or please”.

The first expression is “I would like to go to…” in Chinese is wŏ qù... Repeat after me wŏ qù... wŏ qù.... You know that wŏ means I. The new word qù means to go. Actually, you can just tell a Chinese taxi driver qù then say the place where you want to go.

Let’s imagine you will be staying at Peking Hotel, which is Běijīng fàndiàn in Chinese. Repeat after me Běijīng fàndiàn… Běijīng fàndiàn… Fàn means meal diàn means shop, so the word fàndiàn means restaurant or hotel.

You are taking a taxi from the airport. Please tell the taxi driver where you would like to go… Yes, wŏ qù Běijīng fàndiàn… or you can just say qù Běijīng fàndiàn…

The second expression is “I am getting off here.” You can simply say: xiàchē. Please repeat after me. xiàchē… xiàchē… xià means to get off a vehicle and chē means vehicles.

What dose “Běijīng fàndiàn xiàchē” mean? … Yes, it means to get off at Peking Hotel. After you've paid the taxi driver, you should ask for a receipt.

The third expression of today’s lesson is “Could I have a receipt please?” In Chinese you can simply say wŏ yào shōujù. Please repeat after me. wŏ yào shōujù…. wŏ yào shōujù….Wŏ means I, yào means want and shōujù means receipt.

Let’s revise the expressions that we learnt today.

Do you remember how to say “I would like to go to…”? … Yes, wŏ qù

Do you remember how to say Peking Hotel? ... Yes, Běijīng fàndiàn

Do you remember how to say “I would like to go to Peking Hotel”?... Yes, wŏ qù Běijīng fàndiàn

Do you remember how to say “I am getting off here”? …Yes, xiàchē

Do you remember how to say “Could I have a receipt please”? … Yes, wŏ yào shōujù

OK, let’s see if you can do the following role play.

You’ve got into a taxi at Beijing airport. Tell the driver to go to Peking Hotel.

…Yes, wŏ qù Běijīng fàndiàn

When you are approaching Peking Hotel, there is a queue of cars moving slowly towards the front gate of Peking Hotel. You ask the driver to drop you off by the road.

…Yes, xiàchē.

Ask him for a receipt.

… Yes, wŏ yào shōujù.

After the driver taking out your luggage from the taxi thank him and say goodbye.

…Yes, xiexie nĭ! zàijiàn.