How to say "to make money" in Chinese

When To Use It

"to make money" maps to 搞钱 (gǎo qián), a neutral shopping phrase for buying situations.

Use it while choosing products, asking about price, or reacting to a seller in a market or retail setting.

Practice it first exactly as written, then swap in your own people, places, or objects so it becomes part of your active speaking repertoire.

Tone And Delivery

The register is neutral, which makes it flexible: safe in most daily situations without sounding stiff or overly intimate.

Because this is marked beginner, you should aim to recognize it instantly and reuse it with your own names, nouns, locations, or numbers.

A good practice target is the example sentence 搞钱 (gǎo qián). Once that feels natural, shorten your pause and try it at conversation speed.

Practice Ideas

This phrase becomes more useful when you learn it as part of a mini-sequence. After saying it, a natural next step could be 亮彩 (liàng cǎi).

A second nearby phrase to review is 牌戏 (pái xì), which helps you stay in the same topic instead of translating from scratch again.

• Read the example “to make money” aloud, then replace one detail with your own information.
• Pair it with “A bright color” next so your conversation does not stop after a single line.
• Match the phrase to your tone of voice: soft for polite requests, flatter and quicker for routine daily use.
• If you hear a slightly different version in the wild, compare the tone and context before treating it as interchangeable.