二手市场 The Secondhand Market

上个月shàng ge yuè搬家bānjiā的时候de shíhou，我wǒ把bǎ一些yìxiē用不上yòng bu shàng的de东西dōngxi拿到nádào二手èrshǒu市场shìchǎng去qù卖mài。

Last month when I was moving, I took some things I no longer needed to the secondhand market to sell.

二手èrshǒu市场shìchǎng里lǐ什么都有shénme dōu yǒu，从cóng旧衣服jiù yīfu、旧书jiù shū到dào旧家具jiù jiājù，样样yàngyàng齐全qíquán。

The secondhand market has everything — from old clothes and old books to old furniture, it's all there.

卖mài东西dōngxi的de人rén给gěi东西dōngxi定dìng一个yí ge不太高bú tài gāo的de价格jiàgé，买mǎi的de人rén可以kěyǐ再zài还价huánjià。

Sellers set a price that isn't too high, and buyers can haggle further.

我wǒ把bǎ一张yì zhāng几乎jīhū没用过méi yòngguo的de书桌shūzhuō卖给了màigěile一个yí ge刚gāng搬来bānlái的de大学生dàxuéshēng。

I sold an almost-unused desk to a college student who had just moved in.

他tā说shuō，买mǎi二手èrshǒu的de东西dōngxi既jì省钱shěngqián，又yòu不用búyòng等děng厂家chǎngjiā生产shēngchǎn新的xīn de，很hěn环保huánbǎo。

He said buying secondhand things saves money and is eco-friendly, since you don't have to wait for factories to make new ones.

我自己wǒ zìjǐ也yě在zài市场上shìchǎng shàng淘到了táodàole一把yì bǎ老式lǎoshì的de椅子yǐzi，样子yàngzi很hěn特别tèbié。

I myself found an old-fashioned chair at the market, whose look was quite special.

虽然suīrán是shì二手èrshǒu的de，但是dànshì东西dōngxi质量zhìliàng好的话hǎo de huà，用起来yòng qǐlai跟gēn新的xīn de差不多chàbuduō。

Even though it's secondhand, if the quality is good, using it feels almost the same as something new.

现在xiànzài，我wǒ越来越yuè lái yuè喜欢xǐhuan逛guàng二手èrshǒu市场shìchǎng，因为yīnwèi每件měi jiàn东西dōngxi背后bèihòu都dōu有yǒu一个yí ge故事gùshi。

Now I like browsing the secondhand market more and more, because behind every item there's a story.

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

Key words 生词

二手èrshǒusecondhand

齐全qíquáncomplete; all there

还价huánjiàto haggle; counter-offer

淘táoto dig up; find by searching

环保huánbǎoeco-friendly

老式lǎoshìold-fashioned; vintage-style

既……又……

"Both... and..." links two simultaneous benefits or qualities: 买二手的东西既省钱，又不用等厂家生产新的。

这份工作既有意思，又能锻炼人。— This job is both interesting and good practice.

……的话

的话 attaches to a clause to mark it as a condition, similar to "if": 东西质量好的话，用起来跟新的差不多。

有时间的话，我们一起去逛逛。— If you have time, let's go browsing together.

虽然……但是……

"Although... but..." — a standard concessive pattern: 虽然是二手的，但是东西质量好的话，用起来跟新的差不多。

虽然天气不好，但是我们还是出发了。— Although the weather was bad, we still set off.

1. Why did the author bring things to the secondhand market, according to the text?

2. What does the college student buyer say about buying secondhand goods?

3. What did the author himself find at the market?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.