Taking a Taxi (Part 1)

HSK 3 · 107 characters · Taking a Taxi

Survival Chinese — hailing a cab and getting there on time.

李明lǐ míng要yào去qù火车站huǒ chē zhàn，时间shí jiān不bù多了duō le。Li Ming needed to get to the train station, and time was short.他tā在zài路边lù biān叫jiào了le一yī辆liàng出租车chū zū chē。He hailed a taxi at the roadside.“您好nín hǎo，去qù火车站huǒ chē zhàn。”"Hello — to the train station, please."

司机sī jī问wèn：“走zǒu大路dà lù还是hái shi走zǒu小路xiǎo lù？”The driver asked, "Main road or side streets?"

“哪个nǎ ge快kuài走zǒu哪个nǎ ge，我wǒ是shì十shí点diǎn的de火车huǒ chē。”"Whichever is faster — my train is at ten."路上lù shang有点yǒu diǎn堵dǔ，司机sī jī换huàn了le一条yī tiáo路lù。Traffic was a bit heavy, so the driver switched routes.

李明lǐ míng问wèn：“大概dà gài要yào多少duō shǎo钱qián？”Li Ming asked, "About how much will it be?"

司机sī jī说shuō：“三十sān shí块kuài左右zuǒ yòu。”The driver said, "Around thirty yuan."到dào了le火车站huǒ chē zhàn，一共yī gòng二十èr shí八bā块kuài。At the station, the total was twenty-eight.李明lǐ míng付fù了le钱qián，说shuō了le声shēng谢谢xiè xie，跑pǎo向xiàng车站chē zhàn。Li Ming paid, called out his thanks, and ran for the station.