"请便宜一点儿。"
Translation:Please make it a bit cheaper.
104 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Yes and no. The character on its own is pronounced bian but when spoken as the phrase "便宜", it should be pian. So in this context, youre right
The character on its own pronounced as both biàn and pián. This is so-called 多音多义字
What you are hearing is an unaspirated [p]. In English all initial [p]s have an aspiration following, so it sounds a bit like ph. Unaspirated [p] as the initial sound in a word will sound like a [b] to most English speakers, because initial [b] in English is unaspirated.
"Please reduce the cost a little bit" should be added as an acceptable answer.
Yes, I tried "Please make it a bit cheaper", which I think should be accepted. After all "一点儿" does mean "a bit".
You have better luck if you use the fewest words. I wrote "Please a bit cheaper", and it was marked correct.
"a bit cheaper please" is also accepted. I have given up trying to make the English sound OK. Now I just try to get my answer accepted, but it is still just guesswork a lot of the time. Of course the main thing is to understand the meaning of the Mandarin and then just try to put it in a form that Duo will accept irrespective of how it sounds to a native English speaker.
Not sure why Dejo's reply was down-voted. "Please, a bit cheaper." is an accepted answer.
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Cost can be also understand as 成本 and not 價錢 price. To reduce cost, we do not say 便宜, but 減少 or 降低.
In this case, you must only assamble the phrase with the words presented.
On the computer version, you have the option to type in your answer instead of using the word bank.
That should be the correct answer because Duo doesn't address 一点儿 in their English answer.
Yes, which for those wondering, basically translates to "a little bit" in this context.
I agree, this is just another way of saying what is show in the translation above
Or "Please, cheaper." This sentence is literally just these two words strung together.
請便宜一点兒。
If you wonder where the verb is, the sentence is originally 请算便宜一点儿, but 算 is omitted. The grammar structure is very free in Chinese, as you know.
"Could you make it cheaper, please?" was rejected - is it really BIG difference between Can and Could? It seems to me that Could is even more polite - so why DL does not accept it?
What would a native English speaker say in this case? The phrases provided sound quite odd to me.
- 750
I've never bargained in my life, but I suspect that people are usually much less direct when asking for a lower price, or just ask for the price they want.
"I'll part with this for thirty dollars."
"That seems a bit pricey. How about ten?"
"Twenty."
"Fifteen or I walk."
"Twenty, and I throw in this pair of fuzzy dice."
"Fifteen, and that's final."
"Fifteen it is! Congratulations on your new (gently used) Furby."
Or something like that. Again, I've never had to bargain for anything, but have seen other people do it, though mostly on TV.
So the hint on mouseover says 便宜一点儿 means cheaper, but "cheaper please" is not accepted. Is the hint on mouseover wrong or the english translation? I understand that 一点儿 means a bit in isolation, but does it just indicate a comparative?
The translation "Cheaper, please" should be accepted because 一点儿 (yi dianr) is here effectivly a suffix meaning -er (as in bigger, smaller, cheaper).
The suggested answer by duo has question mark, "Can you make it cheaper, please?" but the question does not have question mark. Chinese sentence is not about asking to reduce price but its requesting politely to reduce the price a little.. I do not understand why "please reduce the price a little" is marked wrong
一点儿 is pronounced as yidiar, by skipping the "n". Is this intentional or an error
in Chinese, there wasn't traditionally a question mark. Most people would just write the “。” instead.
Because it has the 请 word which is generally mean: please. If we put 'please' at the end of the sentence then we can add '?'
I think having 一点儿 in the sentence, "a bit" should be accepted if included in the answer. I.e. "please make it a bit cheaper".
Also, the pronunciation of 便宜 given in the audio track is definitely not standard.
Cheap - 便宜 Piányí Vs. 廉价 lián jià ：cheaply priced. In this context it is cheaply priced: 一个在烟雾缭绕的房间里的歌手，葡萄酒和廉价香水的气味。Yīgè zài yānwù liáorào de fángjiān lǐ de gēshǒu, pútáojiǔ hé liánjià xiāngshuǐ de qìwèi. ♫A singer in a smoky room, the smell of wine and cheap perfume.♫
Why is "can you, please, make it cheaper" not accepted??? Gramatically if you have the please separated by comas you can put it anywhere in the sentence!! "please, can you make it cheaper?" "can you, please, make it cheaper?" "can you make it cheaper, please?" The developers should implement something to check if the position is gramatically accepted! So frustrating!!
The pronunciation sounds like qing bie yidiar…is that to get us used to how it is often said? Native chinese speakers/those who have been shopping with native speakers…have you heard it shortened like this? Or is it an audio issue?
For those looking at an answer that is currently accepted: please a bit cheaper worked for me. Other stuff including the reference answer failed. Looks almost like someone deleted most of the answers.
The answer "Can you make it cheaper" has no 你 or 你们 in it.
Where does the YOU come from?
Doesn't "please make it cheaper a bit" essentially mean the same thing as "please make it a bit cheaper"?
In chinese 便 can be pronounced in two ways pian and bian. Pian yi is means cheap and bian yi means Convienient.
So, the wrong pronunciation is used here. I have reported it and hopefully it will be changed.
this er at the end will make younsound extremely pikey in Chinese so dont use it. Unless you want to sound like a pirate. Language apps use itbcos thwy talk like thay in thw north round Beijing. But if you talk like that in Taiwan or mostbof China you will sound like a Scouse or Redneck.
Always asking the Chinese to make it cheaper and then always complaining about cheap crap breaking. he he
- 750
Could someone please explain the phrase 一点儿? It sounds like it might be an idiom (literally meaning something like "one bit two"), but I don't know enough about Chinese to tell whether that's actually the case, or if something else is going on entirely.
儿 gets tacked on to a lot of words in Chinese. It really means "son" or "child" but it functions as a kind of diminutive "little (whatever)." 一点 can be used by itself without the 儿, meaning "a little." It is also found attached to nouns 花儿 "flower" and verbs 玩儿 "play," and even adverbs as a substitute for 里. So 哪里，"where" and 哪儿 "where" mean the same thing. In all cases, the 儿 can be left off and the basic meaning won't change. I am told that the use of 儿 is more common in Northern China, and Southern Chinese add it into their speech to make fun of Northern accents. One of my favorite usages is 哥儿. 哥哥 is "older brother" and 哥儿 means roughly "buddy, mate, or 'bro' in modern slang.
All valid comments. However, they speak abnormally fast, without flawless Chinese pronunciation. Hence, the inevitable confusion.
"Can you Give me a discount please"is what i would say. Make it cheaper sounds super happy translated
Please just translate the idea. Make it cheaper is ridiculous. And you want us to translate it perfectly. "Give me a discount please" is what sounds normal to me. "Could you lower the price a bit? " "How about a lower price?" "Would you find it in your heart to lower your very high price and give me a price that I can afford?" Point is there is no single translation, but make it cheaper is not one of them
Please just translate the idea. Make it cheaper is ridiculous. And you want us to translate it perfectly. "Give me a discount please" is what sounds normal to me. "Could you lower the price a bit? " "How about a lower price?" "Would you find it in your heart to lower your very high price and give me a price that I can afford?" Point is there is no single translation, but make it cheaper is not one of them In Mexican Spanish we say "Deme precio, no sea malita" and I wouldn't expect Duolingo to say"give me price, don't be a baddie". You know what i would say?: "Could you give me a discount?"
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why is "a little” wrong?. ..instead of for "a bit”?
this is my third go at this, i am just shuffling words, but i don't think i am changing the meaning.
i am beginning to think i am expected to use American English. ...not my native English.
Not really. Can you make it cheaper would be a yes or no question. This is more of a polite command to make it cheaper.
