Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 成本 | chéngběn |
| 費用 / 费用 | fèiyòng |
| 花費 / 花费 | huāfèi |
The term cost refers to the amount of money spent for a purpose. Depending on the context, you might use different terms: 成本 refers to production or capital costs, 费用 refers to general expenses or fees and 花费 can refer to general expenditure or the act of spending. In daily life, you might hear 开销 to describe regular or daily expenses or even the colloquial 钱 to indirectly refer to cost. To ask about the value or worth of something, you can use the expression 值多少钱.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 成本 is composed of 成, meaning to become or complete and 本, meaning capital or source. It literally means the 'original capital' used to complete a process. The word 费用 is composed of 费, meaning to spend or fee and 用, meaning to use, literally meaning 'the spending used' for something.
Which one should you use?
While all these terms relate to spending, they are used in different contexts. 成本 is specific to the cost of production or the underlying capital cost of a good or service. 费用 is more general and refers to expenses, fees or charges for a specific activity or service. 花费 is unique because it functions as both a noun (expenditure) and a verb (to spend or consume), whereas 成本 and 费用 are primarily nouns.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
花费 can be used as a verb meaning 'to incur a charge, a price'.
How do you pronounce it?
chéngběn
Did you know?
- In a playful or sarcastic context, a Chinese speaker might describe a very expensive 'cost' as 天价 (tiānjià), meaning a 'heavenly price'.
- In Chinese, when talking about the 'cost' of an effort or time, people often use 代价 (dàijià), which literally means 'the price of a sacrifice'.
- The word 费 (fèi), used in 费用, can also mean 'waste'. This creates a linguistic link between the act of paying a fee and the act of consuming or wasting a resource.
Examples in context
- 这项服务的费用是多少？(Zhè xiàng fúwù de fèi yòng shì duō shǎo?)What is the cost of this service?
- 你的生活开销是多少？(Nǐ de shēng huó kāi xiāo shì duō shǎo?)What are your living costs?
- 这个东西多少钱？(Zhè ge dōng xi duō shǎo qián?)How much does this thing cost?
- 你觉得这个手表值多少钱？(Nǐ jué de zhè ge shǒu biǎo zhí duō shǎo qián?)How much do you think this watch is worth?
- 便宜一点可以吗？(Piányi yīdiǎn kěyǐ ma?)Can it be cheaper?
- 可以给个折扣吗？(Kěyǐ gěi gè zhékòu ma?)Can I have a discount?
- 这个包括税吗？(Zhè ge bāokuò shuì ma?)Does this include tax?
- 运费是多少？(Yùn fèi shì duō shǎo?)How much is the shipping fee?
- 有没有其他费用？(Yǒu méiyǒu qítā fèi yòng?)Are there any other fees?
- 好贵啊！(Hǎo guì a!)It's so expensive!
- 太贵了！(Tài guì le!)It's too expensive!
- 真是不值！(Zhēn shì bù zhí!)It's really not worth it!
- 这个项目的成本很高。Zhège xiàngmù de chéngběn hěn gāo.The cost of this project is very high.
- 我们需要控制生产成本。Wǒmen xūyào kòngzhì shēngchǎn chéngběn.We need to control production costs.
- 原材料的成本一直在增加。Yuáncáiliào de chéngběn yīzhí zài zēngjiā.The cost of raw materials keeps increasing.
Example conversation
A man and a woman are discussing a new business idea at a cafe.
- 梓涵 Zihan你想开一家咖啡店吗？Nǐ xiǎng kāi yī jiā kāfēi diàn ma?Do you want to open a coffee shop?
- 伟 Wei我想，但是我不清楚成本。Wǒ xiǎng, dànshì wǒ bù qīngchǔ chéngběn.I do, but I'm not sure about the cost.
- 梓涵 Zihan我可以帮你计算成本。Wǒ kěyǐ bāng nǐ jìsuàn chéngběn.I can help you calculate the cost.
- 伟 Wei那太好了，谢谢你。Nà tài hǎo le, xièxiè nǐ.That would be great, thank you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cost” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
