How to Ask the Price in Chinese

“…多少钱(Duōshǎo qián, how much)?” is a very useful phrase to ask the price in Chinese. Literally, The character
 多(duō) means “more” or “many.” The character
 少(shao) means “few” or “less.” The character
 钱(qián) means “money.”

When you want to buy some fruit or some vegetable, you should ask in this way:“一斤…多少钱” or“…一斤多少钱”. 斤(Jīn) is a measure word of weight, equal to 500g.

一斤(Yì jīn)=500g,
2斤(Liǎng jīn)=1000g, etc.

Although the official Chinese system of weights and measures stipulates that “公斤(Gōngjīn,kilo)” is the basic unit, people are still accustomed to using the “斤(Jīn)”

For example, if you want to know how much is Apple (苹果, Píngguǒ) per jīn , here the questions are:

苹果一斤多少钱?( Píngguǒ yì jīn duōshǎo qián?)
Or 一斤苹果多少钱?( Yì jīn píngguǒ duōshǎo qián?)
Or just 多少钱一斤(苹果)? (Duōshǎo qián yì jīn (píngguǒ?)

The various monetary units in人民币(Rénmínbì) ,the Chinese currency are: “元(Yuán)” ,“角(Jiǎo)”, and “分(Fēn)”. In spoken Chinese, we often use“块(Kuài) for “元(Yuán)” and “毛(Máo)” for“角(Jiǎo)”.

元(Yuán)/ 块(Kuài)”= a basic money unit in China
角(Jiǎo)/ 毛(Máo) =10% of one元(Yuán)/ 块(Kuài)
分(Fēn)=1% of one元(Yuán)/ 块(Kuài)

when “毛(Máo)” or”分(Fēn)” is at the end, “毛钱(Máo qián)” and “分钱(Fēn qián)” can be omitted. For example:

6.86—-六块八毛六(分钱)
9.30—-九块三(毛钱)

When “ 2 毛“ is the beginning of an amount of money, people say “ 两毛(Liǎng máo)“ .when “2分”is at the end of amount of money, the expression “二分(Èrfēn)”is often used. For example:

0.22—-两毛二(分)