打折 dǎzhé — to give a discount, to sell at a reduced price

Meanings

1. 1

   to give a discount, to sell at a reduced price

   折, a fraction folded down from ten — a price tag reading 八折 means eight tenths of the original, what a shopper pays, not what is taken off, the reverse of the English "20% off". 打折 is the shop doing that folding; 打八折 names how much.

   verb

Common combinations

• 打八折
  dǎ (third tone, dipping) bā (first tone, high and level) zhé (second tone, rising)

  20% off (literally "eight tenths of the price")

Example sentences

• 这家商店的衣服都打折了。/這家商店的衣服都打折了。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) jiā (first tone, high and level) shāngdiàn (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) yīfu (first tone, high and level) dōu (first tone, high and level) dǎzhé (third tone, dipping) le. (neutral tone)···

  The clothes in this shop are all on sale now.

• 这件衣服打八折，很便宜。/這件衣服打八折，很便宜。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) jiàn (fourth tone, falling) yīfu (first tone, high and level) dǎ (third tone, dipping) bā (first tone, high and level) zhé, (second tone, rising) hěn (third tone, dipping) piányi. (second tone, rising)···

  This piece of clothing is twenty percent off — very cheap.

Common mistakes

• Not quite这个打20%折。

  Correct这个打八折。

  Chinese counts what remains, not what is cut: 八折 is 80% of the price, the equivalent of "20% off". Reaching for a percentage off, as English does, states the price backwards.