Money in Chinese
The English translation for money in Mandarin Chinese is 钱 Qián. So, have you heard “money” in Chinese before? And, have you used the Chinese expression “duo shao qian” ( how much in Mandarin) when asking for the price of an item in Chinese ? As this Chinese word is very commonly used in daily Mandarin Chinese conversation, it is therefore good for you to know how say money in Mandarin.
How to read and write the Chinese word money?
The pinyin for money in Chinese is qián in the 2nd tone. The radical for money in Chinese is 金 Jīn , and the other component of this Chinese word is 戋 jiān.
10 most common Chinese expressions for Money in Chinese
There are many Chinese words or Chinese expression you can expand from the Chinese word 钱 qian. It is not only important for us to learn many Chinese words, it is also important to know how to form Chinese expression from the Chinese words.
多少钱 duō shǎo qián How much is it?
How many “money” in Mandarin phrases do you know? I believe you have used or heard the Chinese expression 多少钱？Yup, a very commonly and daily used Chinese phrase. In fact, you will definitely use this Chinese expression when asking for the price of an item when shopping in a Chinese speaking countries. As such, it is better for you to list it down as a must know in your Chinese learning book ^^.
这本书多少钱？ zhè běn shū duō shǎo qián
How much is this book?
云吞面多少钱? Yún tūn miàn duō shǎo qián
How much is this wonton noodle?
The easiest way to use this Chinese expression is to point to that item and ask 多少钱. It is that easy. You don’t even need 5 minutes to learn this Chinese word. ^^
找钱 zhǎo qián to give change
The Chinese phrase for give me money in Chinese is 找钱. This Chinese phrase is kind of funny as the first Chinese vocabulary 找 means to look for or search. I guess the shop owner needs to go search for money in order to give change to you ^^. In addition, when asking for your change, you can say 找我钱. However, when the shop owner has given you the wrong change, the Chinese phrase to use is 找错钱了。Similarly, when you do not want the change, the Chinese phrase is 不用找(钱)了。
Let us go through these few Chinese expressions again.
找钱。 zhǎo qián
to give change
找我钱 zhǎo wǒ qián
give me the change
找错钱了 zhǎo cuò qián le
gave the wrong change
不用找(钱)了 bù yòng zhǎo (qián) le
keep the change
赚钱 zhuàn qián to earn money
I am sure you have heard people complaining about the difficulties to earn money nowadays because of bad economy. 赚钱难 or 赚钱不容易 are the Chinese phrases to take note of.
Chinese saying about money
There is a saying in Mandarin Chinese 花钱容易赚钱难 “huā qián róng yì zhuàn qián nán” This Chinese phrase literally means it is easier to spend money than earning money. Are you a person who likes to spend money? In that case, 乱花钱 “luàn huā qián” is the Chinese expression to describe a person who blows his/her money away for useless things.
他很努力赚钱养家 Tā hěn nǔ lì zhuàn qián yǎng jiā
He works very hard to earn money to feed the family.
乱花钱是不好的习惯。 luàn huā qián shì bù hǎo de xí guàn
Blowing one’s money is a bad habit.
省钱 shěng qián to save money
Are you the kind of person who is always searching for good deals to save money? I am! I believe money saved is money earned. The Chinese phrase 省钱 is made up of the Chinese word 省 and 钱. The Chinese word 省 means to save or economize. There are of course other meanings such as to leave out, province etc, but for this context it means to save.
上下班乘公共汽车最省钱。 shàng xià bān chéng gōng gòng qì chē zuì shěng qián
The best way to save money is to take the bus to and off work.
自助游是最省钱的方法。 zì zhù yóu shì zuì shěng qián de fāng fǎ
Free and easy travel is the most cost saving way.
付钱 Fù qián to pay money
Paying for things is getting more and more convenient these days. As such, cash is no longer needed. However, you do need an app in your mobile in order to pay without using cash. The Chinese phrase for to pay is 付钱 and the Chinese word 付 is to pay.
你用什么付钱? Nǐ yòng shén me fù qián?
How are you going to pay？
让我来付钱。 ràng wǒ lái fù qián
let me pay
洗钱 xǐ qián to launder money
This is what a criminal will do with their money. The Chinese expression 洗(黑)钱 means to wash the money, aka money laundering. When clean money becomes black 黑钱, you will need to wash it to make it clean to use again. The Chinese vocabulary 洗 is to clean or to wash.
洗(黑)钱是犯法的。 xǐ (hēi) qián shì fàn fǎ de.
Money laundering is illegal
见钱眼开 jiàn qián yǎn kāi money grubber
If someone were to say 见钱眼开 to you, it is not a compliment at all. The Chinese expression见钱眼开 is actually saying to have your eyes wide open upon seeing money. That means, if something has no monetary benefits to you, you are not interested at all. It can also mean greedy for money. The Chinese word 见 is to see or look, 眼 is eyes and the Chinese vocabulary 开 is to open. The Chinese phrase literally means “see money eyes open”.
不要做个见钱眼开的人。 bù yào zuò gè jiàn qián yǎn kāi de rén.
Don’t be a person who is greedy for money.
车钱 chē qián fare
This should be an easy one. You should know by now that the Chinese word 车 is car. If you were to add 钱 after the Chinese vocabulary车, it has the meaning of fare or the money for transportation.
今天妈妈忘了给我车钱。 jīn tiān māmā wàng le gěi wǒ chē qián
Mom forgot to give me the fare.
可以帮我付车钱吗？ kě yǐ bāng wǒ fù chē qián ma?
Could you pay for the fare?
存钱 Cún qián to save money / to deposit money
This Chinese expression is the opposite of 花钱 huā qián . If 花钱 is to spend money, then 存钱 is to keep money. The Chinese vocabulary 存 means to keep / to save. Do you save more than you spend?
他把钱全部存进银行。 tā bǎ qián quán bù cún jìn yín háng.
He deposited all his money in the bank.
他不喜欢花钱，他喜欢存钱。 tā bù xǐ huān huā qián, tā xǐ huān cún qián
He likes to save money rather than spend money.
算钱 suàn qián to count money
Are you good at calculating? When I was young, I didn’t know how to calculate well. As such, I was cheated many times because of that. Now, I make sure to bring a calculator with me wherever I go. The Chinese word 算 is to calculate.
请把钱算一算。 qǐng bǎ qián suàn yī suàn
Please count the money.
你把钱算错了。 bǎ qián suàn cuò le
You have counted the money wrongly.
10 money in Chinese phrases in Traditional Chinese format
- 多少錢
- 找錢
- 賺錢
- 省錢
- 付錢
- 洗錢
- 見錢眼開
- 車錢
- 存錢
- 算錢
Are you able to pronounce the moeny in Chinese “Qian” with confident after this post? If you find this post useful and helpful, please share with the links provided in this site. Happy learning! ^^
If you are interested to download the mp3 file for all the Chinese expressions listed in this post, please click here!
