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Mythic Mandarin

Booking a hotel

HSK 3 Unit 7: Travel and seasons · Lesson 1 of 5 · About 20 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can book a hotel room, ask about the price and what it includes, and check in with your ID or passport.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 记住 mean?

    1. to postpone
    2. to remember, to memorise
    3. in advance, earlier
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to remember, to memorise.

    记住 (jìzhù) means to remember, to memorise.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to postpone”?

    1. 招聘
    2. 安排
    3. 推迟
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 推迟.

    “to postpone” is 推迟 (tuīchí).

New words

  • 预订yùdìngto book, to reserve
  • 酒店jiǔdiànhotel
  • 身份证shēnfènzhèngidentity card
  • 价格jiàgéprice
  • 包括bāokuòto include
  • 早餐zǎocānbreakfast
  • 免费miǎnfèifree (of charge)

Booking

预订 (yùdìng) is to book. 酒店 (jiǔdiàn) and 宾馆 are both hotels. A night is 一晚 or 一个晚上.

  • 我想预订一个房间。

    Wǒ xiǎng yùdìng yí gè fángjiān.

    I'd like to book a room.

  • 一晚多少钱？

    Yì wǎn duōshao qián?

    How much is it per night?

  • 价格包括早餐吗？

    Jiàgé bāokuò zǎocān ma?

    Does the price include breakfast?

In China, guests show a 身份证 (ID card) or a 护照 (passport) at check-in.

  • 请给我看一下您的护照。

    Qǐng gěi wǒ kàn yíxià nín de hùzhào.

    May I see your passport, please?

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Checking in

Sophie arrives at a hotel. Xiao Zhou is at reception.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. How many nights did Sophie book?

    1. one
    2. two
    3. three
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, two.

    订了两个晚上.

  2. Listening

    Is breakfast included?

    1. Yes, from seven to ten.
    2. No.
    3. Only at the weekend.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, Yes, from seven to ten..

    包括。早上七点到十点.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 小周

    您Nín好hǎo！您Nín预订yùdìng了le吗ma？

    Hello! Do you have a booking?

  2. 苏菲

    预订Yùdìng了le，我wǒ叫jiào苏菲Sūfēi，订dìng了le两liǎng个gè晚上wǎnshang。

    Yes. My name is Sophie, I booked two nights.

  3. 小周

    好Hǎo的de。请Qǐng给gěi我wǒ看kàn一下yíxià您nín的de护照hùzhào。

    Fine. May I see your passport?

  4. 苏菲

    给Gěi您nín。价格Jiàgé包括bāokuò早餐zǎocān吗ma？

    Here you are. Does the price include breakfast?

  5. 小周

    包括Bāokuò。早餐Zǎocān在zài二èr楼lóu，早上zǎoshang七qī点diǎn到dào十shí点diǎn。

    Yes. Breakfast is on the second floor, from seven to ten.

  6. 苏菲

    房间Fángjiān里lǐ有yǒu没有méiyǒu电脑diànnǎo？

    Is there a computer in the room?

  7. 小周

    没有Méiyǒu，但是dànshì可以kěyǐ免费miǎnfèi上网shàngwǎng。

    No, but the internet is free.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 给您。价格包括早餐吗？

    Gěi nín. Jiàgé bāokuò zǎocān ma?

    Here you are. Does the price include breakfast?

  • 包括。早餐在二楼，早上七点到十点。

    Bāokuò. Zǎocān zài èr lóu, zǎoshang qī diǎn dào shí diǎn.

    Yes. Breakfast is on the second floor, from seven to ten.

  • 您好！您预订了吗？

    Nín hǎo! Nín yùdìng le ma?

    Hello! Do you have a booking?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 预订 mean?

    1. (adds feeling to the end of a sentence)
    2. to book, to reserve
    3. birthday
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to book, to reserve.

    预订 (yùdìng) means to book, to reserve.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “hotel”?

    1. 免费
    2. 酒店
    3. 紧张
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 酒店.

    “hotel” is 酒店 (jiǔdiàn).

  3. Word order

    Put the words in order: Is there a computer in the room?

    • 里
    • 电脑
    • 房间
    • 有
    • 没有
    Show the answer

    房间里有没有电脑 Fángjiān lǐ yǒu méiyǒu diànnǎo?

    Is there a computer in the room?

    房间里有没有电脑？ The sentence comes from this lesson's text.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    价格 jiàgé

    1. car, vehicle
    2. price
    3. from (distance)
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, price.

    You heard 价格 (jiàgé): price.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 包括 (to include). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: bāokuò

    包括 is bāokuò in pinyin.

  6. In context

    You want to know if breakfast is included. What do you ask?

    1. 早餐多少钱一晚？
    2. 价格包括早餐吗？
    3. 你预订早餐了吗？
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 价格包括早餐吗？.

    价格包括早餐吗？: 包括早餐吗: does it include breakfast?

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: I'd like to book a room.

    我想＿＿一个房间。

    1. 包括
    2. 预订
    3. 价格
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 预订.

    我想预订一个房间: I'd like to book a room.

  8. Grammar

    Which question is right?

    1. 房间里有电脑没有吗？
    2. 房间里有没电脑？
    3. 房间里有没有电脑？
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 房间里有没有电脑？.

    房间里有没有电脑？ A-not-A: 有没有, no 吗.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for How much per night?

    Show the answer

    Answer: 一晚多少钱

    一晚多少钱: how much per night?

Book a room

Call a hotel out loud and book a room, playing both parts.

  1. Say how many nights and for how many people.
  2. Ask the price and whether it includes breakfast.
  3. Ask one more question about the room with A-not-A.

Sentence frames

  • 我想预订＿＿个晚上。

    Wǒ xiǎng yùdìng ＿＿ gè wǎnshang.

    I'd like to book ... nights.

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I can book a room and ask about price and breakfast.
  • I understand check-in requests for ID or passport.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: At the airport: delays and announcements