你
Excuse me, could you take a photo for us?
Beginner · 6-8 min
Ask Someone to Take a Photo请别人帮忙拍照
After this scene, you can politely ask someone to take a photo, explain which button to press, choose vertical or horizontal, understand basic photo-taking prompts, and thank the person naturally.
Learning
Core dialogue
对方
Sure.
你
Thanks for the trouble. Just press this button.
对方
Do you want it vertical or horizontal?
你
Horizontal, please. Thank you.
对方
Okay. Ready, one, two, three. Look this way, one more.
对方
Done. Take a look.
你
You took such a great photo. Thank you!
对方
No problem.
Key phrases
Pick a phrase and see what it means here, and how to reuse it.
Phrase Card
Phrase 1 of 6
bù不hǎo好yì意si思
excuse me
From the dialogue
你:不好意思，能帮我们拍张照吗？
Excuse me, could you take a photo for us?
Use it here
Use “不好意思” before asking a stranger for help.
Say it another way
- bù不hǎo好yì意si思。
Excuse me.
- bù不hǎo好yì意si思，qǐng请wèn问yí一xià下。
Excuse me, may I ask something?
- bù不hǎo好yì意si思，néng能bāng帮wǒ我yí一xià下ma吗？
Excuse me, could you help me?
Patterns
Pick a pattern and see how it helps you say new things in the same scene.
Pattern Card
Pattern 1 of 3
能 + Verb Phrase + 吗？
Use this pattern to make a polite request.
能动作吗？
动作 = what you want the person to do
From dialogue
- néng能bāng帮wǒ我men们pāi拍zhāng张zhào照ma吗？
Could you take a photo for us?
Try also
- néng能bāng帮wǒ我yí一xià下ma吗？
Could you help me for a moment?
- néng能bāng帮wǒ我kàn看yí一xià下ma吗？
Could you take a look for me?
Common mistakes
Small fixes that make your Chinese sound natural.
1. Use 张 for photos
Not natural
能帮我们拍一个照吗？
Natural
能帮我们拍张照吗？
Why
For photos, 张 is the natural measure word. 拍张照 is short and common.
2. Use 按 for buttons
Not natural
压这个按钮就行。
Natural
按这个按钮就行。
Why
For a phone or camera button, 按 means press and sounds natural.
3. Use 得 to describe the result
Not natural
你拍太好了。
Natural
你拍得太好了。
Why
Use Verb + 得 + result to describe how well someone did an action.