Negotiating salary: Discussing benefits like vacation days or remote work

🇨🇳 Opening with 请问 "may I ask" keeps a pay or benefits question polite rather than demanding. It's a good softener for any delicate question to an employer.

💬 天 works as its own counting word, so no 个 goes between the number and 天. Just say 十天 (shí tiān), not ten-个-days.

💬 Putting a verb next to its negative makes a yes/no question, with no 吗 needed. The same works with 是不是 "is it or not" and 好不好 "is that OK".

💬 多 goes before the verb to mean "more": 多给 is "give more". Likewise 多吃 means "eat more".

🇨🇳 Asking with 能不能 sounds like a request rather than a demand. That indirect tone suits salary talks in China, where open hard bargaining can seem pushy.

🇨🇳 Floating a number as 比如 "for example" lets you name your target without sounding like an ultimatum. It's a face-saving way to anchor a negotiation.

💬 第 before a number makes it an order word: 第一 means "first" and 第二 means "second". Here 一 keeps its plain tone (dì yī nián), because order numbers don't change tone.

💬 到 after a verb shows where the change ends up: 加到十五天 means "add up to fifteen days". Similarly, 减到 means "reduce to".

💬 了 here signals a new state, "now I get it", not past time. 好了 "it's done/OK now" works the same way.

💬 Where something happens goes before the action, with 在 + place + verb. Compare 在公司工作 "work at the office".

💬 星期 "week" needs 个 when counted. Here 一 is said (yí) because it comes before 个 (gè).

💬 When counting things, use 两 (liǎng) for "two", not 二 (èr): 两天, 两个人.

💬 How long something lasts goes after the verb: 工作两天 means "work for two days". The time frame 一个星期 "per week" goes up front.

💬 Weekdays are just 星期 plus a number: 星期一 is Monday and 星期五 is Friday. Sunday is the exception, 星期天 or 星期日.

💬 Time words like 星期五 come near the front, before the verb, never at the end as in English.

💬 问题 means both "question" and "problem", so context decides which. 没问题 is "no problem", while 别的问题 here is "other questions".

🇨🇳 HR uses 您, the respectful "you", with candidates. In formal job talks you'd use 您 back to the interviewer or manager.

💬 Unlike 很, 非常 (fēi cháng) adds real emphasis: "extremely". 非常好 means "excellent".

💬 给 after a verb points to who receives it: 发给您 means "send to you". Similarly, 寄给他 means "mail to him".

💬 把 moves the thing being handled before the verb: 把合同发给您 means "take the contract and send it to you". It's common when something is being moved or delivered.

🇨🇳 Get any agreed benefits, like extra leave or remote days, written into the 合同. Verbal promises from a negotiation are often not honored later.