Chinese Phrases for Activities with Friends

Have you ever wondered what to talk about when hanging out with Chinese friends? Sports? Movies? Personal interests? Some funny jokes? In this article, I will introduce four topics and some helpful phrases when spending time with friends.

1. Shopping with friends

When shopping with your friends, these phrases are very important to know:
- How much (does it cost)? – 多少钱? – duō shao qián?

- Can it be cheaper? – 便宜点吧! － pián yi diǎn ba : When shopping in China, bargaining is a must.

- This shirt/ dress/ pair of shoes suits you well! – 这件衣服/ 这条裙子/ 这双鞋子很适合你 – zhè jiàn yī fú / zhè tiáo qún zi / zhè shuāng xié zi hěn shì hé nǐ. When your friend is asking for your fashion advice, then you can use this phrase. Also, if it’s not the case, just replace ‘hěn’ with the negation word ‘bù’.

2. Dining in a restaurant

- What do you recommend? – 你推荐什么菜? – nǐ tuī jiàn shén me cài: If you can’t read the menu, you can always use this one. Maybe you’ll be served with something you love, and sometimes something really strange.

- What specialties do you have? – 你们有什么特色菜? – nǐ men yǒu shén me tè sè cài:If you can’t read the menu, then you can always use this one. Maybe you’ll be served with something you love or sometimes something really strange!

- No chili/ medium spicy/ – 不要辣/微辣 – bú yào là /wēi là – If you are OK with eating everything, just utter this phrase and take what you are given.

3. Doing sports/ watching games

- Let’s go do some cycling, it’s a fine day! – 今天天气很好，出去骑车吧！– Jīn tiān tiān qì hěn hǎo, chū qù qí chē ba!

- Where is the game? – 比赛在哪儿？– Bǐ sài zài nǎr?

- Do you play tennis? – 你打网球吗？– Nǐ dǎ wǎng qiú ma?

Imagine you are watching a game somewhere in China. This is what you might hear people around you saying about a soccer match!
- Pass the ball! – 传球！– Chuán qiú!


- Bad move! – 臭球！– Chòu qiú!

- Can’t believe you missed that! – 简直不敢相信你没接住! – Jiǎn zhí bù gǎn xiāng xìn nǐ méi jiē zhù!

4. Watching movie/ going to the cinema

If you are watching movie in the cinema with friends, it’s inevitable to talk about it and maybe some Chinese celebrities.
- Do you often watch films? – 你平时看电影吗？– Nǐ píng shí kàn diàn yǐng ma?

- Hey, have you seen the recent Disney movie Zootopia? It is amazing! – 最近迪士尼的那个疯狂动物城你看了么？超级好看。– Āi, zuì jìn Dí Shì Ní de nà gè Fēng Kuáng Dòng Wù Chéng nǐ kàn le me? Chāo jí hǎo kàn.

- I laughed so much! – 笑死我了！– Xiào sǐ wǒ le!

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