Texting & dating apps: Making plans to meet by text

💬 Time words like this usually come at the very start of the sentence, or right after the person: 這個週末你有空嗎？ or 你這個週末有空嗎？.

💬 Literally "have free time": 空 here is said (kòng), not (kōng) as in "sky" or "empty". To say you're not free, use 沒空 (méi kòng).

🇹🇼 Asking whether someone is free before naming an activity is the usual soft way to invite in Taiwan. It lets them decline without having to turn down a specific plan.

💬 Weekdays are just 星期 plus a number: 星期一 is Monday, through 星期六 Saturday. Sunday breaks the pattern: 星期天 or 星期日.

💬 Times stack from biggest to smallest: day first, then part of day. Also 明天早上 "tomorrow morning".

💬 一 (yī) is read (yì) here, because it comes before the third-tone 起 (qǐ), so the whole word is said (yì qǐ).

💬 要不要 + an activity is a ready-made casual invitation, literally "want or not want". Swap in anything: 要不要一起吃飯？ "want to eat together?"

🇹🇼 Coffee is the classic low-pressure first meetup from a dating app in Taiwan. It's short, public, and easy to extend or end.

💬 Adding 啊 (a) after 好 makes the agreement sound warm and willing, not flat. On its own, 好 can come across as curt.

💬 哪裡 (nǎ lǐ) is pronounced (ná lǐ) in speech, because two third tones in a row turn the first into a rising tone.

💬 Taiwan calls the subway 捷運 (jié yùn), not the mainland 地鐵. Station names follow the pattern place + 捷運站, like 台北車站捷運站.

💬 廳 means a room or hall for a purpose, so 咖啡廳 is literally "coffee hall". The same word shows up in 餐廳 "restaurant".

💬 附近 goes after the landmark, not before it: 捷運站附近 means "near the MRT station".

💬 Tack 可以嗎？ onto any suggestion to check it's fine with the other person. Also 三點，可以嗎？ "Three o'clock, OK?"

💬 幾 asks "how many" for small numbers, so 幾點 is literally "how many o'clock". Also 幾個人？ "how many people?"

💬 For time and counting, "two" is 兩 (liǎng), not 二: 兩點 means two o'clock, never 二點.

💬 Put a time right before 見 to say "see you then". Also 明天見 "see you tomorrow" and 待會見 "see you in a bit".

💬 那 at the start here means "so, in that case", not "that". It wraps up the plan you've just agreed on.

💬 Chinese often has no word for "when": 我到了 followed by the next action already means "once I arrive, then…". The 了 marks the arriving as done first.

💬 傳 (chuán) means "to pass along." Taiwan uses it for sending texts and files, as in 傳照片 "send a photo", where mainland China would usually say 發 (fā).

💬 The 喔 at the end softens the sentence into a friendly heads-up rather than a flat statement.

🇹🇼 Messaging on arrival is the norm for Taiwan meetups, usually over LINE. It's considerate when finding each other at a busy MRT exit.

💬 掰掰 (bāi bāi) is just English "bye-bye" borrowed by sound. It's the everyday way to sign off in Taiwan, more common than 再見 among friends.