# We are closing



## nutmeg_

Hi  I work in a library and I would like to learn some phrases that would help me speak with our customers that speak Mandarin.
I speak a little Mandarin and I am familiar with the tones and pinyin.

Im not really sure what phrases are commonly used in customer service in Chinese, but I think these would be helpful?

>We are closing.

I need pinyin as a guide too if you could please include both characters and pinyin?

Thank you so much !
Megan


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## cblhxx

>We are closing.
我们要关门了. wo3 men2 yao4 guan1 men2 le4.
闭馆的时间要到了. bi4 guan3 de4 shi2 jian1 yao4 dao4 le4.


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## nutmeg_

cblhxx said:


> >We are closing.
> 我们要关门了. wo3 men2 yao4 guan1 men2 le4.
> 闭馆的时间要到了. bi4 guan3 de4 shi2 jian1 yao4 dao4 le4.



Sorry, which sentence means "We are closing" ? Is that two separate ways to say it?


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## SuperXW

nutmeg_ said:


> Sorry, which sentence means "We are closing" ? Is that two separate ways to say it?


Both are. The first one is colloquial and direct, while the second one is more formal, since it literally means "The closing time is approaching." 

I think you can drop the 要 in the second sentence if it's really the closing time and you've already reminded the readers before.


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## BODYholic

cblhxx said:


> 我们要关门了. wo3 men2 yao4 guan1 men2 le4.


In Singapore, we usually drop the word 门 and say 我们要关了 or 我们关了.
But I learned the hard way when I was on vacation in Hong Kong many years ago. Apparently, 关 or 关门 means "to wind up" to Hong Kong people. Instead, I was told to use "收". Example, 幾點收鋪?


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## SuperXW

BODYholic said:


> In Singapore, we usually drop the word 门 and say 我们要关了 or 我们关了.
> But I learned the hard way when I was on vacation in Hong Kong many years ago. Apparently, 关 or 关门 means "to wind up" to Hong Kong people. Instead, I was told to use "收". Example, 幾點收鋪?


I believe dropping 門 is common to all Mandarin speakers.

Besides 收, I think Hong Kong Cantonese also commonly use the verb 閂 in that case? (OP should notice this discussion of Hong Kong usage is about Cantonese, not Mandarin.)


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## jillyqi

I don't think the phrase with "门" is better。


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## nutmeg_

Thank you everyone for the helpful! Politeness is what Im aiming for so these suggestions are perfect.


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## theresagqp1986

But it is more natural with 门 in Mandarin. The phrase does have two meanings, close and wind up, as mentioned by BODYholi, but in the context of working in a library, customers won't get the meaning of 'winding up'.


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## nutmeg_

theresagqp1986 said:


> But it is more natural with 门 in Mandarin. The phrase does have two meanings, close and wind up, as mentioned by BODYholi, but in the context of working in a library, customers won't get the meaning of 'winding up'.




So the first two suggestions wouldn't confuse any Mandarin speakers? They are safe to use?


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## Jerry Chan

The Cantonese (in Hong Kong) use 閂門 instead of 關門. For 關門, I'll associate it with 關門大吉, which is really winding up!
For a library, you can use 閂門, but not 收舖, which is usually for a store (舖頭) only.

An alternative will be 休息 (and 休館 in a more formal way). I think this is okay in Mandarin as well?


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## minpeng1978

Normally, in north of China, we say "我们下班了"。
wo3 men3 xia4 ban1 le 
"下班” means off duty.

But in South of China, we say"我们打烊（da3 yang2）了"
"打烊" also means off duty.


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## SuperXW

I believe both 我们要关了 and 我们要关门了 are common and natural to most Mandarin speakers.

What minpeng1978 suggested, 我们下班了 or 我们打烊了(we're off work), is the colloquial way that a staff may tell a visitor, but it's too informal so you won't hear that from a library's broadcast.


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## Jerry Chan

minpeng1978 said:


> Normally, in north of China, we say "我们下班了"。
> wo3 men3 xia4 ban1 le
> "下班” means off duty.
> 
> But in South of China, we say"我们打烊（da3 yang2）了"
> "打烊" also means off duty.



我們通常是飲食店才會用"打烊"


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## nutmeg_

thank you everyone!


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