7-Eleven Mandarin: convenience store phrases for Taiwan
Pick up a parcel, pay a bill, get lunch heated up, print a document: the Mandarin you need at a Taiwanese convenience store, with pinyin, audio, and what the clerk will say back.
The convenience store is Taiwan's civic infrastructure. In one visit you can pay your electricity bill, collect a parcel, print a document from a kiosk, post a package to another store, buy a coffee and have your lunch heated up. Each of those is a different phrase at the same counter, which is why this deck is mostly transactional sentences rather than vocabulary.
You'll be greeted with a shouted huānyíng guānglín, and you'll be asked three things over and over: whether the food needs heating (yào wéibō ma), whether you have a member card, and whether you want the receipt. Parcel pickup — wǒ yào qǔ huò — needs the code from your notification and usually your ID, and store-to-store shipping (diàn dào diàn) is how most people send things domestically.
20 phrases for convenience stores
| What you say | Pinyin | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Convenience store. | chāoshāng | 超商 |
| I'm here to pick up a parcel. | wǒ yào qǔ huò. | 我要取貨。 |
| Store-to-store delivery. | diàn dào diàn | 店到店 |
| I want to send a parcel. | wǒ yào jì jiàn. | 我要寄件。 |
| Please heat it up for me. | bāng wǒ wéibō, xièxiè. | 幫我微波，謝謝。 |
| I need to pay a bill. | wǒ yào jiǎofèi. | 我要繳費。 |
| Photocopying. | yǐngyìn | 影印 |
| Printing. | lièyìn | 列印 |
| Buy one get one free. | mǎi yī sòng yī | 買一送一 |
| Half price on the second one. | dì èr jiàn bànjià | 第二件半價 |
| Tea egg. (the ones simmering by the counter) | cháyèdàn | 茶葉蛋 |
| Oden — the hot counter stew. | guāndōngzhǔ | 關東煮 |
| A medium hot americano. (the local shorthand) | zhōng rè měi | 中熱美 |
| Plastic bag. | sùjiāodài | 塑膠袋 |
| Collecting the sticker points. | jídiǎn | 集點 |
What you'll hear back
The other half of the conversation — what the vendor, clerk or nurse says to you. Understanding these is usually harder than speaking.
| What they say | Pinyin | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome! (shouted as you walk in) | huānyíng guānglín! | 歡迎光臨！ |
| Would you like this heated up? | zhège yào wéibō ma? | 這個要微波嗎？ |
| Do you have a member card? | yǒu huìyuánkǎ ma? | 有會員卡嗎？ |
| Do you want the receipt? | fāpiào yào ma? | 發票要嗎？ |
| Do you need a straw? | xūyào xīguǎn ma? | 需要吸管嗎？ |
Questions people ask
Can I have parcels delivered to a convenience store?
Yes — store-to-store (diàn dào diàn) is a standard shipping option on Taiwanese shopping sites. You get a notification with a pickup code, then say wǒ yào qǔ huò at the counter and show the code and your ID.
Can I really pay bills there?
Yes. Utility bills, phone bills, parking fines, credit card bills and more all arrive as paper slips with a barcode — hand it over with wǒ yào jiǎofèi and pay in cash at the counter.
Can I print or scan documents?
Yes, at the self-service kiosks the big chains have in-store. yǐngyìn is photocopying and lièyìn is printing — useful when an office asks for photocopies of your documents on the spot.
Will they heat up my food?
They'll offer. zhège yào wéibō ma means 'shall I microwave this' — answer hǎo or bāng wǒ wéibō, xièxiè. Chopsticks and a bag come with it if you need them.