Food in Chinese

Dàjiā hǎo! Welcome to the Rocket Chinese Lesson on a topic that’s sure to get your mouth watering - food! Today we’re going to learn some of the most common words for food items in Chinese.

It’s important to know some basic vocabulary for food when traveling in China. You’ll find it handy when going out to eat or when shopping for food in a market.

Talk about what you like, ‘我喜欢… Wǒ xǐhuān…’, what you don’t like ‘我不喜欢… Wǒ bù xǐhuān…’, or perhaps you have a food allergy you need to tell your waiter about, which will be ‘我不能吃… Wǒ bùnéng chī… ’.

Let’s tuck in to this lesson!

Resources for further reading:

Pronouncing food in Chinese

Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record

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面包

miànbāo

Bread

黄油

huángyóu

Butter

蛋糕

dàngāo

Cakes

奶酪

nǎilào

Cheese

鸡蛋

jīdàn

Eggs

ròu

Meat

牛奶

niúnǎi

Milk

沙拉

shālā

Salad

yán

Salt

香肠

xiāngcháng

Sausage

水果

Shuǐguǒ

fruit

蔬菜

shūcài

Vegetables

食物

shíwù

Food

面粉

miànfěn

Flour

pái

Steak

三文治

sānwénzhì

Sandwich

我喜欢……

Wǒ xǐhuān……

I like......

我不喜欢……

Wǒ bù xǐhuān……

I don't like...

我不能吃……

Wǒ bùnéng chī……

I can't eat......

I hope you enjoyed this lesson! I don’t know about you, but I am ready to tuck into yīge sānwénzhì! Next time you need to go grocery shopping or find out what kind of ingredients are in the food at a restaurant, you’ll be equipped with this vocabulary to help you along.

For more lessons on Chinese vocabulary I recommend these!​

回头见!Huítóu jiàn!

Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese

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