HSK 3 ≈ CEFR B1 170 characters 12 sentences

Shopping Online （网上买东西）

The photo showed a large blue coat. What arrived was neither large nor blue.

0:00 Tap any word for its meaning · 🔊 plays the sentence

网上买东西

我wǒ很hěn喜欢xǐhuan在zài网上wǎngshàng买mǎi东西dōngxī，因为yīnwèi方便fāngbiàn又yòu便宜piányi。
I like shopping online because it's convenient and cheap.
上个星期shànggexīngqī，我wǒ在zài网上wǎngshàng买了mǎile一件yíjiàn大dà衣yī / yì。
Last week I bought a coat online.
照片zhàopiàn上shàng的de / dì大dà衣yī / yì是shì蓝色lánsè的de / dì，看起来kànqǐlái很hěn暖和nuǎnhuo。
The coat in the photo was blue and looked warm.
价格jiàgé也不yěbù贵guì，只要zhǐyào三百sānbǎi块kuài。
It wasn't expensive either — only three hundred yuan.
三天sāntiān以后yǐhòu，快kuài递dì就jiù送到sòngdào了le / liǎo / liào。
Three days later the delivery arrived.
我wǒ把bǎ箱子xiāngzi打开dǎkāi一yī看kàn / kān，愣lèng住了zhùle。
I opened the box and stopped short.
大dà衣yī / yì是shì灰色huīsè的de / dì，而且érqiě比bǐ我wǒ想xiǎng的de / dì小xiǎo得多deduō。
The coat was grey, and much smaller than I'd expected.
我wǒ又yòu看了kànle一yī遍biàn那个nèigè网页wǎngyè，发现fāxiàn颜色yánsè和hé尺寸chǐcun我wǒ都dōu选xuǎn错cuò了le / liǎo / liào。
I looked at the web page again and found I'd picked the wrong colour and the wrong size.
我wǒ很hěn不好意思bùhǎoyìsi地dì / de给gěi卖mài家jiā发fā了le / liǎo / liào消息xiāoxi。
I messaged the seller, rather embarrassed.
她tā很快hěnkuài就jiù回复huífù了le / liǎo / liào：“没问题méiwèntí，您nín可以kěyǐ退tuì。”
She replied quickly: "No problem, you can return it."
退tuì货huò的de / dì过程guòchéng比bǐ我wǒ想xiǎng的de / dì顺利shùnlì多了duōle。
The return went far more smoothly than I'd expected.
这次zhècì我wǒ看清kānqīng楚chǔ了le / liǎo / liào才cái下xià单dān——蓝色lánsè，大dà号hào / háo。
This time I checked properly before ordering — blue, large.

Words to notice

网上wǎngshàng
Online (on the internet)
快kuài
Quick (fast - delighted - soon)
递dì
Hands over (pass)
颜色yánsè
Color
尺寸chǐcun
Size (dimension)
退tuì
Retreat (withdraw - decline - recede - fade)
顺利shùnlì
Smoothly (without a hitch)
Drill this level's full word list on the HSK 3 vocabulary page or with HSK 3 flashcards.

Your reading speed

—
characters per minute

Now check you understood it

Did you understand it? — 3 questions

Three questions about what actually happened. Turn the English off first if you want a real test.

Correct: 0

Read it again Review your saved words Another story

More HSK 3 stories

HSK 3 · 189 chars

Moving House

搬家
Eight years of things in twenty-six boxes, and one that nobody wanted to open.
HSK 3 · 186 chars

The Job Interview

面试
Twenty minutes of prepared answers, and one question she hadn't prepared for.
HSK 3 · 186 chars

Losing My Phone

手机丢了
The phone was gone. Two hours later, it rang — and a stranger answered.

Keep reading

Check how hard a text is with the HSK Level Analyzer, annotate your own reading in the Pinyin Annotator, look up the grammar behind these sentences in the Chinese Grammar Library, or follow a whole route through the site with Guided Learning Paths.

Where to go next

Graded Chinese Readers Chinese Dictionary Text-to-Speech Reader Chinese Reading Speed Test Branching Chinese Stories Chinese Grammar Library