How to say “I want to buy a ticket” in Chinese
“I want to buy a ticket” in Chinese is 我要买票。, written in pinyin as Wǒ yào mǎi piào.
我要买票。
Wǒ yào mǎi piào.
I want to buy a ticket.
Word by word
What each part of 我要买票。 actually means.
- 我wǒI
- 要yàoto want
- 买mǎito buy
- 票piàoticket
When you use it
- Say it at a ticket window when the destination is obvious from the sign above you or the screen in your hand, and be ready for the two questions that always follow: 几张 and 去哪儿.
- 买票 buys the ticket, it does not collect one: 取票 is picking up something already paid for online, and at a station the two words send you to different queues.
Use 我要买票。 in travel situations. Airports, trains, directions and asking for help.
Other ways people say it
The same idea, said differently. Roughly in the order you'll hear them.
我要两张票。
Wǒ yào liǎng zhāng piào
I want two tickets.
张 is the counter word for tickets, and the number sits between 要 and 票.
在哪儿买票？
Zài nǎr mǎi piào?
Where do I buy tickets?
还有票吗？
Hái yǒu piào ma?
Are there any tickets left?
What usually trips people up
- 张 is the counter for tickets and it goes between the number and the noun: 一张票, 两张票. Dropping it — 我要一票 — is the most common slip in this sentence.
- At the window the staff usually ask 几张 first, so the fast answer is a number plus 张 — 两张 — rather than another full sentence; the counter word alone carries the noun.
- 买票 gets you a ticket from a person or a machine that sells them; a 取票机 only prints tickets that were already bought, so queueing at one without a booking wastes the wait.
What you might hear back
- 几张？Jǐ zhāng?How many?
- 去哪儿？Qù nǎr?Where to?
- 今天的票卖完了。Jīntiān de piào mài wán leToday's tickets are sold out.
Common questions
- How do you say "I want to buy a ticket" in Chinese?
- "I want to buy a ticket" in Chinese is 我要买票。 — written in pinyin as Wǒ yào mǎi piào. It is a travel phrase you would use in China.
- What does 我要买票。 mean in Chinese?
- 我要买票。 (Wǒ yào mǎi piào) means "I want to buy a ticket". Broken down word by word: 我 (wǒ) means "I"; 要 (yào) means "to want"; 买 (mǎi) means "to buy"; 票 (piào) means "ticket".
- When would you use "I want to buy a ticket" in Chinese?
- Say it at a ticket window when the destination is obvious from the sign above you or the screen in your hand, and be ready for the two questions that always follow: 几张 and 去哪儿. 买票 buys the ticket, it does not collect one: 取票 is picking up something already paid for online, and at a station the two words send you to different queues.
Where you'll use it
我要买票。 comes up in these situations, in this order.
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