Negotiating salary: Asking for a higher salary politely

💬 跟 "with" plus the person goes before the verb, not after it: 跟您谈谈 is literally "with you talk". Try swapping in 跟老板谈谈 "talk with the boss".

💬 吧 at the end of an instruction makes it sound like an easy invitation rather than an order. You'll hear the same thing in 走吧 "let's go".

💬 Putting a length of time plus 了 after an action tells how long something has been going on up to now: 我学中文三年了 "I've been learning Chinese for three years".

🇨🇳 Opening with how long you've been at the company is a common way to justify a raise. In China, loyalty and seniority carry real weight in these conversations.

💬 To describe how well someone does something, add 得 after the verb and then the description: 做得很好 "do it well", 说得很好 "speak it well".

💬 Adding 一点 after an adjective means "a bit more": 高一点 "a bit higher", 便宜一点 "a bit cheaper". You'll find it handy for bargaining too.

🇨🇳 Framing the request as a hope, and only asking for "a little" more, keeps it modest and lets the boss save face. It sounds much softer than stating a demand outright.

💬 每 "each" still needs a counting word before most nouns: 每个人 "everyone", 每个星期 "every week". Some words skip it, like 每天 "every day" and 每年 "every year".

💬 块 (kuài) is the everyday spoken word for yuan. Prices on paper use 元 (yuán), but people say 一千块 in conversation.

💬 Add 可以吗？ after any proposal to ask "is that OK?", as in 明天可以吗？ "Is tomorrow OK?" To agree, just repeat 可以.

💬 Ending a proposal with 可以吗？ "is that okay?" turns it into a polite request. 一 in 一千 is read (yì) because it comes before (qiān).

🇨🇳 Naming a concrete figure, but closing with a question, strikes the balance a Chinese manager would expect: clear about what you want, yet not pushy.

💬 Adding 一下 after a verb makes the action sound brief and casual: 看一下 "take a quick look", 等一下 "wait a moment". Here 一 is read (yí) because it comes before (xià).

🇨🇳 Saying the decision has to go higher up is a very common response. It can be genuine, or it can be a polite way to delay without saying no directly.

💬 下 marks the next one and 上 the last one: 下周 "next week", 上周 "last week". The same works for months, as in 下个月 "next month".

💬 In casual speech, the second syllable of 告诉 is usually said lightly with no tone, as (gàosu).

💬 Time words like 下周 come near the front, before the verb, not at the end as in English. The "I" is left out because it's obvious from context.

💬 不 stays (bù) here because 客 (kè) is a falling tone. It changes to (bú) only when the next tone is falling, giving (bú kè qi).

🇨🇳 This is a friendly way for a boss to end the meeting and send you back to work. It isn't rude, just a natural, warm dismissal.