# My parents went car shopping today.



## yuechu

大家好！

I was recently thinking about how to translate the following sentence to Chinese: "My parents went car shopping today."
Would anyone know how to say this in Chinese? Thanks!


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## NewAmerica

How old is the speaker? Who are listners? More context would help.

A teenager would say:  爸妈今天去买车了。


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## albert_laosong

NewAmerica said:


> How old is the speaker? Who are listners? More context would help.
> 
> A teenager would say:  爸妈今天去买车了。


I think it should be "*我*爸妈今天去买车了”， one leaves out "我” only when he/she is talking to his/her siblings.


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## NewAmerica

No. It can be omitted when talking to their relatives or neighbors or people they are familiar with, which appears to be the case in the OP.


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## albert_laosong

NewAmerica said:


> No. It can be omitted when talking to their relatives or neighbors or people they are familiar with, which appears to be the case in the OP.


I thought about it, you are right, 我 can be omitted too when speaking to other people, but I think this is only when the sentence is used as an answer, for example:
- 小刚，你爸妈今天有没有出去过？
- 爸妈今天去买车了。

But if it's not an answer, for example someone told his friend, 小红，你知道吗？爸妈今天去买车了。it would be a wrong sentence, it can only be 我爸妈。


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## yuechu

Thanks for your replies, NewAmerica and Albert_laosong! 
You're right that more context would be helpful!



NewAmerica said:


> How old is the speaker?


In this case, the speaker is in his 30s.

I was actually wondering about going car shopping, because in English, if you're shopping for something, you don't necessarily end up buying it. For example, my parents went car shopping but are still undecided, or maybe they need to do some more car shopping before deciding on one.
Would it also be possible to express this nuance in Chinese?


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## Skatinginbc

去逛车


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## yuechu

Excellent! I was thinking of 逛街 but didn't know that 逛车 was also possible! Thanks, Skatinginbc! 

For clothes shopping, would you say 逛衣服?


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## Skatinginbc

yuechu said:


> For clothes shopping, would you say 逛衣服?


Yes.  For example, 咱們先逛衣服，然後再去飯店吃大餐。


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## yuechu

It's a very useful verb phrase! (If that is what it's called)
Thanks, Skatinginbc!


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## NewAmerica

yuechu said:


> It's a very useful verb phrase! (If that is what it's called)
> Thanks, Skatinginbc!



That comes with a list of caveats: it is only used in Taiwan (Hong Kong and Macau may be included?).


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## SimonTsai

yuechu said:


> in English, if you're shopping for something, you don't necessarily end up buying it.


我昨天去買菜，但菜太貴，買不下手。

我和男友前陣子去買保險套，但沒有適合他的尺寸，都太小，所以沒買。


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## NewAmerica

yuechu said:


> I was actually wondering about going car shopping, because in English, if you're shopping for something, you don't necessarily end up buying it. For example, my parents went car shopping but are still undecided, or maybe they need to do some more car shopping before deciding on one.
> Would it also be possible to express this nuance in Chinese?



  买车，或者说买东西，一般都是货比三家，不一定要一次就搞定的。所以说你要求的 nuance 就隐含在里面。


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## Skatinginbc

車跟房子都是 big-ticket items.  買房子，一般都是貨比三家，不一定要一次搞定。 那麼，你們會因此說「爸媽今天去買房子了」, 意思是 "My parents went home shopping today"?  不，我絕對不會那麼說，若那樣說，會相當 misleading.  我可以接受「去看房子」、「去逛房子」, 但不是「去買房子」for "going home shopping".


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## retrogradedwithwind

Usually 逛＋place, 逛街，逛超市，逛庙会
but 逛衣服 is surely used by some people even in mainland so I think it's acceptable.


go car shopping 
去看车了。
看车 is the best translation for car shopping in my view. 看车看房 means "just go to see but  do not have to buy ".


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## Twangling

NewAmerica said:


> That comes with a list of caveats: it is only used in Taiwan (Hong Kong and Macau may be included?).


Mainlander here. Totally unfamiliar with 逛衣服 and 逛车.

We often say 淘 if the quality is all over the place or not guaranteed, such as 淘衣服、淘古董. The expression came from 淘金 (to pan for gold). That is why Taobao/淘宝网 under Alibaba is called 淘宝.

挑/选 if the item is of high value, such as 选车、挑钻戒. For real estate though, the set phrase is 看房. Coming to think of it, 看车 is also a common expression for car shopping that doesn't require you to seal the deal.

We also use the slang 剁手 a lot, especially for online shopping outside household necessities. It's a popular meme about wanting to chop off one's own hand to keep them from clicking to place another order.


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## SimonTsai

Skatinginbc said:


> 我可以接受 [...]「去逛房子」


While 逛衣服 is idiomatic,  逛房子 sounds odd to me.


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## NewAmerica

Notice that Oxford Dictionary defines *shopping *as:
The action or activity of *buying *goods from shops.
_‘shopping is so exhausting—all those decisions!’_

 ”看车“是一种选择，但考虑到shopping的英文定义，这只是一种选择而已，跟 best 尚有距离。


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## stephenlearner

I have never heard of 逛衣服 or 逛车 or 逛房子. 
You can, however, say 逛衣服店 or 逛车市 or 逛房市/逛楼市.


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## Skatinginbc

不是想強迫推銷，只想描述事實：我在台灣 (e.g., 台北、台南) 和大陸 (e.g., 廣州、重慶) 的網站裡，發現「去逛房子」的描述。 譬如：

我的城堡：先租房子一年，週末沒事就去逛房子。
重庆论坛 搬家记：她马上回家告诉了她妈妈，请她妈妈帮我四处张罗房子，我们花了一个周末的时间去逛房子.
新家發生的事：今天你不是說好了陪我們去逛房子的嗎，不許再使壞！
三吉日记：大亚湾是离着深圳很近的那块，当时的均价在五千多。 当时去逛房子的时候，跟开发商讲价，从一方五千多，足足讲价讲到四千九百元。
買房子的心靈覺察：我開始大膽地去「逛房子」！ 從「地段區域」開始了解，再慢慢了解到所謂的「房屋類型」、甚至是屋齡的選擇：「預售屋、新建案、震後宅、中古屋」⋯
广州妈妈论坛：当时每天下班后一个人背着包去逛房子。
冥婚妻子慕小乔江起云：下午没课，宋薇就说去逛房子。
留学生（那几年在澳洲）： 他一下班，或者平时倒休的时候就开车带着我去逛房子，他简直就是我的专职司机和看房顾问。我很快从地形不熟悉，不了解房型和价格，到基本了解只花了不到一周时间。
安南區金色風采：上週末又去逛房子了，經過金色風采，銷售小姐不在，施工的師傅倒是很熱情的招呼我們看房子，還跟我們說只剩下一間囉！
智邦不動產討論區：朋友開了家怡和洋行在敦化北路XXX號X樓,他說每次去逛房子時被要名片都很不好意思。


NewAmerica said:


> Oxford Dictionary defines *shopping *as:
> The action or activity of *buying *goods from shops.


Wikipedia：_Shopping_ is an activity in which a customer *browses* the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them.
Shopping 是 shop 的動名詞：
Shop (intransitive verb):
The Free Dictionary
1. To visit stores in search of merchandise or bargains.
2. To *look for* something with the intention of acquiring it.

當你 shop around 不是所到之處都購買，而是貨比三家 (有可能最後都沒買).  重點是到處看，而不是一定得買. 「買」只是個 potential intent.


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## NewAmerica

Shopping 有疯狂购物的倾向，因此牛津词典的定义是正确的。逛就不一样。以前的大陆女性钱少，但逛街的劲头一点不比现在逊色。说这种逛街就是shopping, 实在是言过其实。看也一样。没钱照样看，跟shopping八竿子打不著关系。

维基的权威性跟牛津词典比有距离。


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> 看也一样。没钱照样看，跟shopping八竿子打不著关系。


若真如你所述，那麼 window shopping 豈不跟 shopping 八竿子打不著關係？  那你倒說說 window shopping 的 shopping 是什麼意思？


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## retrogradedwithwind

我的观点。
剪出眼睛，没问题。
car shopping 的shopping，按yuechu的说法，就是逛的意思，和“逛房子”的逛差不多。


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## NewAmerica

Skatinginbc said:


> 若真如你所述，那麼 window shopping 豈不跟 shopping 八竿子打不著關係？  那你倒說說 window shopping 的 shopping 是什麼意思？



这说明牛津经典定义的延伸与发展。这一发展，九竿子就打着了关系。
但牛津词典的第一定义仍然是重中之重。


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> 这一发展，九竿子就打着了关系。


這「九竿子」就是美式英語 (Note: The term "window-shopping" appeared in a 1938 article written by American psychologist MW Marston.  The American song "Window shopping" was released in 1952)。 樓主的北美英語讓你翻譯，你卻抱著牛津不放？

Cambridge Dictionary 對 shopping 下的定義是：the activity of buying things from shops.
然而，該網站底下有個部分標題為 "American Dictionary"，給的定義卻是：The activity of looking for things to buy.


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## NewAmerica

牛津还真是放不得。我是在我的iPad上查的(我的iPhone也行）window shopping:
the activity of looking at goods displayed in shop windows, especially without intending to buy anything. (Oxford Dictionary of English)

由于牛津词典是苹果设备默认选项，以苹果设备的高品质与极其庞大的全球用户群，牛津词典的深远影响不言而喻。因为苹果引领时代潮流，因此牛津词典也就成了乘龙快婿，必将引领英语潮流。

而且剑桥定义也是以buying为第一要义，光看不买是左门旁道。


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## albert_laosong

yuechu said:


> I was actually wondering about going car shopping, because in English, if you're shopping for something, you don't necessarily end up buying it. For example, my parents went car shopping but are still undecided, or maybe they need to do some more car shopping before deciding on one.
> Would it also be possible to express this nuance in Chinese?


it's the same in Chinese, 去买房, 去买车 doesn't necessarily mean actually buying. 
But people rarely say 去买房，去买车 if they are still undecided, normally they just say 去看房，去看车。
But when people say 去看房，去看车，they normally do have the plan to buy, not do it for fun.  



Skatinginbc said:


> 車跟房子都是 big-ticket items.  買房子，一般都是貨比三家，不一定要一次搞定。 那麼，你們會因此說「爸媽今天去買房子了」, 意思是 "My parents went home shopping today"?  不，我絕對不會那麼說，若那樣說，會相當 misleading.  我可以接受「去看房子」、「去逛房子」, 但不是「去買房子」for "going home shopping".


Yeah，good point.



Skatinginbc said:


> 不是想強迫推銷，只想描述事實：我在台灣 (e.g., 台北、台南) 和大陸 (e.g., 廣州、重慶) 的網站裡，發現「去逛房子」的描述。 譬如：
> 我的城堡：先租房子一年，週末沒事就去逛房子。
> 重庆论坛 搬家记：她马上回家告诉了她妈妈，请她妈妈帮我四处张罗房子，我们花了一个周末的时间去逛房子.


I never heard people say 逛衣服 or 逛车 or 逛房子, but I believe people like to create phrases they think are cool, for example during my college days we created a phrase that were only understood among us dorm buddies.  The phrase was 酗（xiong）酒 as in 走，酗（xiong）酒去 which means let's go have a drink.

I think it's the same case with 逛房子, this phrase might have been coined by people in social networks specializing in houses.  Housing is the common context that makes this new word understandable. But if it popped up somewhere in real life I would have to ask the speaker to explain himself. 
I can also see why this word was coined, it sounds more light-hearted than the traditional word 看房子，they don't necessarily have the plan to buy houses, they just like to see them, and might indeed buy if a really good house presents itself.


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## Skatinginbc

albert_laosong said:


> 逛房子, this phrase might have been coined by people in social networks specializing in houses.


而且可能與翻譯有關。 譬如 window shopping 引進了 「逛櫥窗」這個新詞兒，home shopping 也可能產生了 「逛房子」。


albert_laosong said:


> 逛房子...it sounds more light-hearted than the traditional word 看房子


Indeed.  There is an old thread on "car shopping" in the English Only Forum, and someone from California mentioned that the bigger the item, the less likely you are to use "shopping" in a serious vein.  Another member (from Montana) also said, "My wife loves to 'go shopping' and rarely actually buys anything (thankfully!)."


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## SimonTsai

yuechu said:


> Excellent! I was thinking of 逛街 but didn't know that 逛车 was also possible!


Just to let you know: '逛車' doesn't work for me. (I have trouble figuring out what it means at first glance.)


stephenlearner said:


> 逛衣服店


'衣服店' sounds odd. Here we say '服飾店'.


Skatinginbc said:


> 重點是到處看，而不是一定得買。


Yes. Shopping is '_the activity of going to a shop to buy things_'. (This is the British English definition by Macmillan.)


> home shopping 也可能產生了 「逛房子」。


Oxford Dictionary defines home shopping as '_shopping carried out from one's own home by ordering goods advertised in a catalogue, on television, or over the Internet._' And Macmillan is in agreement: Home shopping is '_shopping in which you buy things at home using the phone, the post, or the Internet._' So I would translate home shopping as '在家購物'.  As for '看房', I doubt that 'house shopping' may not work. (@yuechu, would you mind shedding light on how the phrase 'house shopping' might be used in real life, as far as you know?)


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## yuechu

SimonTsai said:


> (@yuechu, would you mind shedding light on how the phrase 'house shopping' might be used in real life, as far as you know?)


Even though people say "car shopping", "house shopping" sounds odd to me. I've never heard it before. I think most people would say something like "I was (or We were) looking at some houses today."

Thank you all for your replies!


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## NewAmerica

It appears that British English and American English are very different about the implications of_ shopping_.

Is Canadian English mostly influenced by AE?


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## albert_laosong

SimonTsai said:


> '衣服店' sounds odd. Here we say '服飾店'.


Here in Mainland, we say 服装店.


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## stephenlearner

I would say "服装店“ is formal, and "衣服店“ is colloquial. You probably think "衣服店“ is rarely heard. No, it is commonly heard.


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## yuechu

NewAmerica said:


> Is Canadian English mostly influenced by AE?


Yes. Canadian English is very similar to American English (except in spelling, "Canadian raising", etc.)


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## brofeelgood

These are the **** OFFICIAL* ***** OED definitions: shopping, window shopping.


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## SimonTsai

yuechu said:


> Even though people say "car shopping", "house shopping" sounds odd to me.


I had the feeling that it sounds odd: How could houses be displayed in a shop? Unless the shop is online, as opposed to physical. 

But I was not very certain after a Google search which shows

'Does online house shopping really work?' and
'House Shopping after Summer Ends? Buying Later in the Year Could Save You Thousands.'
But thanks to your help, now it is a wee bit clearer. 


albert_laosong said:


> 我爸妈今天去买车了。


I might say this, but have the particle 了 left out.


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## albert_laosong

stephenlearner said:


> I would say "服装店“ is formal, and "衣服店“ is colloquial. You probably think "衣服店“ is rarely heard. No, it is commonly heard.


Yes, “服装店” is a bit formal, but colloquially it's "卖衣服的” that's heard much more frequently I think, instead of "衣服店"，for example:
那条街几乎都是卖衣服的。

衣服店 should be a non-standard expression, I believe certain people might use it, but it's really very rarely heard. 
I tried searched "衣服店" using both 百度 and 必应, but what I get are almost all results containing "服装店"。



SimonTsai said:


> I might say this, but have the particle 了 left out.


if leaving "了” out, it would make future tense I think, in stead of the past tense in the OP.



Skatinginbc said:


> 而且可能與翻譯有關。 譬如 window shopping 引進了 「逛櫥窗」這個新詞兒，home shopping 也可能產生了 「逛房子」。
> 
> Indeed.  There is an old thread on "car shopping" in the English Only Forum, and someone from California mentioned that the bigger the item, the less likely you are to use "shopping" in a serious vein.  Another member (from Montana) also said, "My wife loves to 'go shopping' and rarely actually buys anything (thankfully!)."


I've never heard 逛橱窗 before  , but I think the best Chinese word for window shopping is 逛街.
逛街 is the best form of entertainment for women, so we often hear women say "走逛街去", but I'm not sure if it's natural for English speakers to say" let's go window shopping", or they just say" let's go shopping"?

But I think "let's go shopping" strongly implies the speaker wants to buy something, clothes or grocery, while 逛街 doesn't.
The phrase "hang out" just occured to me.  do you think "let's hang out" matches "走，我们逛街去” better than "let's go shopping"?

on second thought, I think "window shopping" can best be translated as "逛” while the best translation of 逛街 should be something like "hang out", for example:
We spent the morning *window shopping *at all the antique stores. 我们早上一直在*逛*那些古董商店。


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## Skatinginbc

SimonTsai said:


> I had the feeling that it sounds odd: How could houses be displayed in a shop? Unless the shop is online, as opposed to physical.


"Shopping" does not have to involve a "shop" (store), for example, "curb shopping".  You can even go "boy shopping" if you like. (An interesting sidenote given by a poster from Montana on "car shopping" in the English Only Forum:  "in the US, we don't have 'shops' at all.  We have 'stores.'  To me, a shop is a workshop: mechanic, carpentry, welding, etc.")

Also, the context I was talking about was  "go home shopping" (shopping for a home), not "do home shopping" (shopping at home).  Although the expression ("go home shopping") may be more or less restricted to the West Coast (西岸, 如加州、華盛頓州, 包括洛杉磯、舊金山、西雅圖等大城), it certainly exists.  For example,

Q13 News (註：乃西雅圖的一家新聞台) recently went home shopping with Heather Scherie Manzer. When Manzer walks into a home she is looking for love.

The Economic Times： And of course when they landed in Los Angeles (洛杉磯) after Beckham's entry for LA Galaxy was confirmed, Mrs. Beckham soon went home shopping. According to reports , after a tedious lookout, Posh settled for a newly built, one-story , six-bedroom , 13,149-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills.

Dennis LaBoyne (Birthday Boy): They went home shopping in the fall of that year and were having a problem finding a modest home.

Confessions of an Old Home Junkie and What Cured Me (註：文章講的是西雅圖地區的房產): Last time I went home shopping I noticed used homes cost as much as new one.

Bill CUNNIFF (Home Shopping with Mom in Shorewood；註：芝加哥附近): Mary wanted to move to the southern suburbs too, so we went home shopping together,.

Anderson Advisers (註：乃喬治亞州的一個財務顧問公司): Retirees in the market to buy likely have a different set of criteria than the last time they went home shopping. If the kids have moved out, a smaller space may be more preferable.

Intempus (San Jose, California): I had initially secured an underwriting from a lender he referred for my home purchase, so we went home shopping...


SimonTsai said:


> how the phrase 'house shopping' might be used in real life


The fact that you changed "home" to "house" seems to suggest that you are not comfortable with the use of "home" here.  We usually say "first-time home buyers" instead of "first-time house buyers" for a reason: "Home" is deliberately vague--maybe a house, a duplex, a condo, or anything you may live in and call  "home".  If you tell me you are looking for a house, I would think you really mean "house" (獨立屋 a detached home in the context of real estate).  "House shopping" sounds odd or at least unusual to me as well. 就好像「爸媽今早去看房子」挺順口，「爸媽今早去看獨立屋」就很唐突、奇怪、或不尋常。


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## SimonTsai

albert_laosong said:


> I've never heard 逛橱窗 before.


Neither have I.


yuechu said:


> For clothes shopping, would you say 逛衣服?


Although it is possible, it is suggested that you take it as a special case, and, as a learner, play it safe: Instead of saying, '要不等一下去逛衣服', say '要不等一下去逛服飾店', or '要不待會去服飾店逛逛'.


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## Skatinginbc

I would go with 看車 (retrogradedwithwind #15) or 逛車市 (stephenlearner #19)


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## yuechu

Skatinginbc said:


> 逛車市


Hi, Skatinginbc! Does this mean (to look at cars at a) "car dealership"?

Thank you all for your replies!


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## Skatinginbc

Probably.  車市 seems to refer to "car lots" (plural), but I'm not familiar with the term.  You need to ask stephenlearner.  I recommended it simply because it includes the word 逛，which in my view corresponds the best to the notion of "shopping" in this context.


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## stephenlearner

I think the full name is 汽车交易市场，which can be shortened as "车市“. There may be other terms which I am not familiar with.


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## guajin

I learn a lot with your questions, @yuechu 
非常感谢


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## yuechu

I'm glad you do, @guajin ! but it is all thanks to the Chinese forum members who answer the questions!  我们谢谢你们！


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