Basic measurements: Describing your body measurements to the nurse

🇹🇼 Staff in Taiwan start almost every question with 請問 (qǐng wèn). Starting your own questions at the counter with it sounds polite without being stiff.

💬 多少 (duō shǎo) literally means "many-few". It asks for any amount or number, from weight to price.

💬 There is no verb here. You name the thing and add 多少 (duō shǎo): 體重多少？ "How much do you weigh?"

🇹🇼 Nurses address patients with the respectful 您 (nín) "you", not the plain 你. You can answer in a simple, plain way. You don't need to match that politeness when you talk about yourself.

💬 公 (gōng) marks metric units. You'll see it in 公斤 (gōng jīn) and 公分 (gōng fēn) "centimeter". It tells you a kilo, not a Taiwanese 斤 (jīn) "catty, 600 g", which is still used at markets.

💬 In 公分, 分 is part of the word for centimeter. 分 has lots of other meanings in Chinese, so it's better to learn 公分 as one unit word here.

💬 In Taiwan, 公分 is the everyday word for centimeter. You may also see 厘米, but 公分 is what you're more likely to hear in real conversation.

💬 You just say the number after 我, with no verb needed. Note that 一百 is said (yì bǎi), because 一 changes to a falling tone before (bǎi).

💬 Add 呢 after a noun to ask "and what about…?" You can follow on from an earlier question the same way, for example 身高呢？ "and your height?"

💬 In 公斤, the second character is 斤, but the whole word means kilogram, not "kilo- + catty" in a word-for-word way. In Taiwan, 斤 is also a real traditional weight unit by itself, so watch the difference between 斤 and 公斤.

🇹🇼 In Taiwan, body weight at clinics is usually given in 公斤. But in markets or casual talk, you may also hear 斤, which is a different local unit.

🇹🇼 Taiwan uses kilograms and centimeters, so have your numbers ready in metric before you go.

💬 上 means "previous" and 下 means "next": 下個月 "next month", 上個星期 "last week".

💬 The pattern time + action + 的 points out when something happened: 昨天買的 "bought yesterday".

💬 再 before an action means "again", and 一次 "one time" comes after it. The same pattern gives 再說一次 "say it again".

💬 Ending a suggestion with 好了 makes it a casual decision, like "let's just…".

💬 上來 adds a direction to the action, "up toward me". 站上來 means "step up onto the scale".

💬 Chinese has no word for "yes" here. You answer by repeating the verb from the question, so 要嗎？ gets 要 "need to" or 不要 "no need".

💬 麻煩 before an action works as a polite "please". 麻煩等一下 means "please wait a moment".

🇹🇼 稍等一下 is polite service language that you'll hear constantly at clinics, banks, and shops.

💬 The place comes before the action, with 在 (zài): 在外面 + 等 means "wait outside". Swap the place to say other locations: 請在這裡稍等一下 "Please wait here a moment."