Mandarin: Food and drink

Part ofMandarinMandarin speaking

In Mandarin, there are two important verbs to remember for food and drink:

  • chī - eat

  • hē - drink

A knife and fork by a plate of food.

Did you know?

While this is the same as English, it does mean that there are two different ways to say delicious in Mandarin:

  • hǎo chī - good to eat
  • hǎo hē - good to drink

You can add hěn (very) to the beginning of these phrases too.

A knife and fork by a plate of food.

Talking about food and drink in Mandarin

To say what food and drink you do or do not like in Mandarin use:

  • Wǒ xǐ huān chī - I like to eat…

  • Wǒ xǐ huān hē - I like to drink…

  • Wǒ bù xǐ huān chī - I don’t like to eat…

  • Wǒ bù xǐ huān hē - I don’t like to drink…

You can fill in the gap with some of the following foods and drinks:

MandarinPinyinEnglish
miàn bāobread
shǔ tiáochips
pī sàpizza
yúfish
shuǐ guǒfruit
shū càivegetables
sān míng zhìsandwich
bīng qí línice cream
shuǐwater
chéng zhīorange juice
niú nǎimilk
A glass of orange juice and a selection of vegetables.

If you like orange juice, but you don’t like vegetables, try the following in Mandarin:

  • Wǒ xǐ huān hē chéng zhī - I like drinking orange juice

  • Wǒ bù xǐ huān chī shū cài - I don’t like eating vegetables

To combine these two statements, dàn shì (however) can be used.

A glass of water and a tray of chips.

You can also talk about food and drink in Mandarin using:

  • Wǒ xiǎng - I want to…

  • Wǒ bù xiǎng - I don’t want to

For example:

  • Wǒ xiǎng chī shǔ tiáo - I want to eat chips

  • Wǒ bù xiǎng hē shuǐ - I don’t want to drink water

A glass of water and a tray of chips.
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