Dispute with taxi driver (Advanced): Route choice

🇨🇳 打车 covers both hailing a cab on the street and booking a ride on an app like DiDi.

💬 Put 来 after a round number and it means "a little over": 二十来个 "twenty-odd". 块 (kuài) is the spoken word for yuan.

💬 也就 before an amount means "only about" and makes the number sound small.

🇨🇳 Quoting your usual fare is a common, face-saving way to hint that a route seems too long, without directly accusing the driver.

💬 听 (tīng) means "listen," so 听您的 is literally "listen to yours," meaning "go with what you say." 听你的 is the casual version.

🇨🇳 Saying this ends the disagreement gracefully. It hands the decision, and the responsibility for it, to the other person.

💬 上 after 堵 (dǔ) "block" shows the jam has actually set in and you're now stuck in it.

💬 别 (bié) plus an action means "don't." It's the everyday way to tell someone not to do something: 别急 "don't worry".

💬 There's no word for "if" here. Starting with 真 "really" sets up the condition. 可 and 啊 soften the warning into a half-joking tone.

🇨🇳 This is a classic line from a Beijing driver who has given in to the passenger's route. It's good-natured, but it makes clear who takes the blame for any delay.

💬 In Beijing this is often said (lù kǒur), with 儿 added on the end. 口 "mouth" appears in many words for openings, such as 门口 "doorway".

💬 The pattern is direction plus 转 (zhuǎn): 右转 "turn right". For going straight, use 直走 "go straight".

💬 是…的 wrapped around an action stresses that this was the case. Here it means "the app did say left." 让 here means "tell (someone) to".

💬 光 (guāng) here means "only," not "light." 光顾着说话 means "so busy talking (I forgot the rest)".

💬 过去 after 错 adds the sense of having already gone past the spot. The 去 is usually said in a light, toneless way: (cuò guò qu).

💬 下 before a counted thing means "next," and 上 means "last": 下个月 "next month", 上个路口 "the previous intersection".

💬 In Chinese the place comes first and the action last, the reverse of English. For example: 路口停 "stop at the intersection".

💬 算 (suàn) means "calculate," but 怎么算 is also used to ask how to settle a matter fairly, not just do the arithmetic.

💬 Starting a question with 您看 "how do you see it" softens it. This invites the other person's view rather than demanding an answer.

🇨🇳 This opens a fare negotiation politely. You're letting the driver propose a fair amount rather than accusing them of overcharging.

🇨🇳 A driver who openly admits a mistake like this is defusing the dispute. They will often follow it with a discount or by charging only the app's estimate.

💬 上的 after a thing means "on it" or "shown on it": 菜单上的价钱 "the price on the menu".

💬 按 (àn) means "according to." 按表 is the standard way to say "by the meter".

🇨🇳 Paying by scanning the driver's WeChat or Alipay QR code is the norm in Chinese taxis. Cash is increasingly rare.