还钱 Paying Back Money — HSK 3 Reading

上个月shàng gè yuè，我wǒ的de手机shǒujī突然tūrán坏huài了le，我wǒ需要xūyào马上mǎshàng买mǎi一个yí gè新xīn的de。

Last month my phone suddenly broke, and I needed to buy a new one right away.

可是kěshì我wǒ没有méiyǒu那么nàme多duō钱qián，所以suǒyǐ我wǒ向xiàng同事tóngshì小王Xiǎo Wáng借jiè了le一千yìqiān块kuài钱qián。

But I didn't have that much money, so I borrowed a thousand yuan from my colleague Xiao Wang.

小王Xiǎo Wáng笑着xiàozhe说shuō：“没关系méi guānxi，你nǐ什么时候shénme shíhou有yǒu钱qián，什么时候shénme shíhou还huán我wǒ。”

Xiao Wang said with a smile: "No problem — pay me back whenever you have the money."

昨天zuótiān，我wǒ终于zhōngyú拿到nádào了le这个zhège月yuè的de工资gōngzī。

Yesterday I finally got this month's salary.

我wǒ做zuò的de第一dì yī件jiàn事情shìqing，就是jiùshì去qù找zhǎo小王Xiǎo Wáng还钱huánqián。

The first thing I did was go find Xiao Wang to pay him back.

我wǒ把bǎ一千yìqiān块kuài钱qián还给huángěi了le他tā，还hái请qǐng他tā喝hē了le一yì杯bēi咖啡kāfēi。

I gave the thousand yuan back to him and also treated him to a cup of coffee.

小王Xiǎo Wáng高兴gāoxìng地de说shuō：“谢谢xièxie，你nǐ真zhēn是shì个gè好hǎo朋友péngyou！”

Xiao Wang said happily: "Thanks — you really are a good friend!"

我wǒ觉得juéde，借钱jièqián容易róngyì，还钱huánqián更gèng要yào快kuài，这样zhèyàng朋友péngyou关系guānxi才cái会huì越来越yuè lái yuè好hǎo。

I think borrowing money is easy, but you should be even quicker about paying it back — only then will a friendship get better and better.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

借jièto borrow

还huánto pay back; to return

同事tóngshìcolleague

突然tūránsuddenly

终于zhōngyúfinally

工资gōngzīsalary; wages

Grammar note 语法点

什么时候……，什么时候……

Repeating a question word like 什么时候 turns it into 'whenever / whatever': the second clause happens at the same (unspecified) time as the first, e.g. 你什么时候来，我什么时候等你.

你什么时候有钱，什么时候还我。 — Pay me back whenever you have the money.

把 + object + 还给 + sb

In a 把-sentence the object moves before the verb to show what is being handled; 还给 'return to' then names the receiver, e.g. 请把书还给老师.

我把一千块钱还给了他。 — I gave the thousand yuan back to him.

越来越 + adjective

越来越 means 'more and more', showing that a quality keeps increasing over time, e.g. 天气越来越热.

这样朋友关系才会越来越好。 — Only then will a friendship get better and better.

Check yourself 小测验

1. Why did the narrator borrow money from Xiao Wang?

2. What did Xiao Wang say when he lent the money?

3. Besides returning the money, what did the narrator do?

还钱Huán qiánPaying Back Money

Key words 生词

Grammar note 语法点

Check yourself 小测验

More HSK 3 reading practice