Hi, i’ve been wondering how to say to the cashier of you want to heat your food in the microwave? And ask for a pair of chopsticks. Thanks!
This is probably not correct pinyin, but here goes:
Asking for chopsticks: ke bu ke yi gei wo kuai zi
Heating food: ke bu ke yi bang wo jia le
These phrases are probably not the best way to state your request, but they should work nevertheless.
those are fine but maybe easier for him to remember without the ke yi’s
You got the gist of it, but no need for the kěyǐ ma stuff IMHO. Just say it.
Gěi wǒ de kuàizi.
They used to say, ‘Yào buyào yīgè chā ne?’ (You want a fork instead?) so often it got annoying.
Same with heating food, although it’s exceedingly common for them to automatically ask, “Jiá rè de ma?” for the most obvious items, as well as the egg salad/tuna sandwich, so you gotta know how to say no, too.
Wǒ xiǎng rè.
Or…
Bu xūyào.
Or just nod and say yes, which is what I do most of the time.
Also, during promotional season, they give out the stickers - sorry, can’t find the proper Pinyin but this what I say when they don’t give them to me, which only happens at alien stores cuz everybody around here knows I want the stickers.
Duìbùqǐ, gěi wǒ de ji yidian.
Also, if you buy a salad and forget to pick up the salad dressing packet, listen for:
Nǐ xūyào de shālā jiàng?
…or something like that. Listen for the shālā jiàng. The more courteous clerks will point it out. It’s NT$10 extra or something.
I don’t know your lifestyle, but if you want a pack of cigarettes, say:
Yī bāo Wànbǎolù hóngsè.
I realize the above request isn’t proper Mandarin, but it works.
And honestly, we’re getting deeper into the average 7-Eleven Mandarin Experience.
Oh this is helplful! How long have you been in taiwan? There are times that i could not catch their words properly…
I know how to speak a little but am afraid i may br soraking in the wrong grammar or poor choice of words…
For “heat up”, they usually say 加熱 (jia1 re4). In 7-11, they usually ask you if you want it heated up.
As a note, I often hear 回鍋 (hui2 guo1) to ask if I want things heated up. Dunno if that’s just a southern thing, don’t think I’ve ever bought food at a 7 in Taipei.
Close. They’re actually saying 微波 (wei2 bo1), literally meaning to “microwave”.
What do they say to customers when they goi out of the store? Something like 慢走？
Usually they say 謝謝光臨 “Thanks for coming”.
But 慢走 would also make sense, especially if it’s a mom and pop shop, where the things the employees say are less likely to be scripted by corporate honchos.
How do you say if you want to hand your trash to the staff for disposal?
這個可以幫我丟掉嗎？
Don’t make the mistake I made.
My first year here, I was learning some Chinese and thought I could apply what I was teaching my students - “If you don’t know how to say it, try to find a way.” I wanted to know which containers were soy milk. So I thought, “I know how to say milk, but not soy”.
Milk is niú nǎi (cow milk). So I said to the guy, “Wǒ bù yào niú nǎi… wǒ yào nǎi” (I don’t want cow milk… I want milk). Right? A lady customer in the store began laughing out loud. The cashier I asked then replied in perfect English, “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have that.” I returned home and asked my girlfriend why the lady laughed. Turns out I said, “I don’t want milk… I want breasts”.
Lesson learned. Niú nǎi is milk, nǎi is breasts.
The other problem some people have with niunai is mispronouncing niu as nu, which basically has the same result.
For microwaving, ask:
可以幫我加熱/微波嗎？
ke2yi3 bang1 wo3 jia1re4/wei2bo1 ma?
For chopsticks ask:
可以給我一雙筷子嗎？
ke2yi3 gei2 wo3 yi1 shuang1 kuai4zi ma?
For trash, ask:
可以幫我丟一下嗎？
ke2yi3 bang1 wo3 diu1 yi2xia4 ma?
Actually in the fast paced, competitive and stressful environment that is the convenience store no-one has time nor patience to wait in line and watch the foreigner practice their Mandarin with encouraging thoughts. Just cut to the chase:
First say “Aye!”
Then say:
Wei po - heat it up
Take the chopsticks from the counter yourself.
Also, the bin is also accessible by the customer, it’s not behind the counter. In fact, if you were Taiwanese and asked the counter staff to bin your stuff, they’d give you this “screw you” look and point to the bin that’s probably under the boiled eggs. So you only really need to say wei po.
Done!
After all this time i didnt know that the trash bin is located there! Thanks for the tip! However i have never experienced that the staff gives me ‘that’ look whenever i hand the trash to them.
Oh that’s embarrassing! But i think we all have our fair share of bloopers as foreigners here in taiwan. So charge it to experience. I’ll note this one though!haha
Hi Chris! Yep. been hearing this phrase from them lots of times. Thanks 