Chinese questions: 电邮 / 伊妹儿，(送)给你个礼物，打/搭车 and how to read $30.03
1) Which is the more common way of saying "email" in daily conversations? 电邮 or 伊妹儿?

2) What is the difference between 给你个礼物 and 送给你个礼物? (By having and not having 送?)

3) I've learned that 打的 means to "take a taxi" while 搭地铁 is "to take the subway".
Why are two different characters (打 and 搭) being used if they both mean "to take something (as a transportation)"?

4) I'm not too familiar with the Chinese currency (RMB) but in America, when counting money in Chinese, I've been taught that $30 (thirty dollars) is 三十块, $0.50 (fifty cents) is 五毛 and $0.06 (six cents) is 六分. I've also learned you have to indicate filler zeroes by using 零, so numbers like 305 and 7,008 are read as 三百零五 and 七千零八. ***So, if I wanted to say $30.03 (thirty dollars and three cents), do I say 三十块零毛三分 or 三十块零三分?

Question

Chinese questions: 电邮 / 伊妹儿，(送)给你个礼物，打/搭车 and how to read $30.03
1) Which is the more common way of saying "email" in daily conversations? 电邮 or 伊妹儿?

2) What is the difference between 给你个礼物 and 送给你个礼物? (By having and not having 送?)

3) I've learned that 打的 means to "take a taxi" while 搭地铁 is "to take the subway". 
Why are two different characters (打 and 搭) being used if they both mean "to take something (as a transportation)"?

4) I'm not too familiar with the Chinese currency (RMB) but in America, when counting money in Chinese, I've been taught that $30 (thirty dollars) is 三十块, $0.50 (fifty cents) is 五毛 and $0.06 (six cents) is 六分. I've also learned you have to indicate filler zeroes by using 零, so numbers like 305 and 7,008 are read as 三百零五 and 七千零八.    ***So, if I wanted to say $30.03 (thirty dollars and three cents), do I say 三十块零毛三分 or 三十块零三分?

Answer

1) 伊妹儿 -- Have never heard this before. Is it a regional thing? 电邮 -- My old boss used to say this all the time, but I don't hear it that often. My coworkers usually just say 邮件 for email
2) 送给你个礼物 -- The grammar sounds odd to me (not sure if it is wrong or not but I don't think I have ever heard anybody say this) [edit: asked a native speaker who says it is fine although very 口语!]. 给你个礼物 or 送你个礼物 or 把礼物送给你 sound a bit more natural to me
3) 搭地铁 -- I have never heard this before in mainland China. People here usually say 坐地铁 or, very occasionally, 乘地铁
4) $30.03 -- I vote for 三十块零三分

Keep in mind that I am not a native Chinese speaker so the above may very well be wrong!

Answer

01.事实上，我们都是说邮件的。那两种说法有一些年份了。
02.这两种说法其实没有什么区别，送给你个礼物会更加正式一点，口语的话，其实都可以。
03.中文很有意思，打的，搭地铁，乘地铁，坐公交，骑自行车都是一种中文的搭配。中文是一种象形文字，每一个字都有许多不同的意思。还有很多例子，比如打字，打车，打雷，打印，打算，打麻将……
04.三十块零三分。中国不用分的，最小的就是毛，或角

Answer

1、Email is common in daily conversation in China, so you can speak it in English. "伊妹儿" is from the pronunciation of email. 
If you want to speak it in Chinese, you can use 电子邮件 or 邮件.
2、There is no difference between them.   “送给” is formal than “给” , and you can use 送 to replace 送给 in this sentence.
3、Both phrases are idioms. 
4、三十块零三分 is the answer.  The way to read a number in Chinese is same as in English.

Answers · 6

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