Food & Drinks: Vocabulary for meals, drinks, and common food items

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Pinyin is the standard romanisation used to show Mandarin pronunciation using the Latin alphabet. You’ll often see tone marks on the vowels to show the four tones (plus the neutral tone), for example mā / má / mǎ / mà / ma. “Numbered pinyin” shows the same tones using a number after the syllable instead of tone marks, for example ma1 / ma2 / ma3 / ma4 / ma (sometimes written as ma5 for the neutral tone). Numbered pinyin is handy when you can’t easily type tone marks, while tone-mark pinyin is usually easier to read once you’re used to it.

菜单

• Pinyin: cài dān
• Numbered pinyin: cai4 dan1
• English translation: menu

蛋

• Pinyin: dàn
• Numbered pinyin: dan4
• English translation: egg

饭馆

• Pinyin: fàn guǎn
• Numbered pinyin: fan4 guan3
• English translation: restaurant

方便面

• Pinyin: fāng biàn miàn
• Numbered pinyin: fang1 bian4 mian4
• English translation: instant noodles

饺子

• Pinyin: jiǎo zi
• Numbered pinyin: jiao3 zi5
• English translation: dumpling

酒

• Pinyin: jiǔ
• Numbered pinyin: jiu3
• English translation: alcohol, wine

快餐

• Pinyin: kuài cān
• Numbered pinyin: kuai4 can1
• English translation: fast food

筷子

• Pinyin: kuài zi
• Numbered pinyin: kuai4 zi5
• English translation: chopsticks

面

• Pinyin: miàn
• Numbered pinyin: mian4
• English translation: noodles

食物

• Pinyin: shí wù
• Numbered pinyin: shi2 wu4
• English translation: food

外卖

• Pinyin: wài mài
• Numbered pinyin: wai4 mai4
• English translation: takeout, delivery food

晚餐

• Pinyin: wǎn cān
• Numbered pinyin: wan3 can1
• English translation: dinner, evening meal

碗

• Pinyin: wǎn
• Numbered pinyin: wan3
• English translation: bowl

味道

• Pinyin: wèi dào
• Numbered pinyin: wei4 dao4
• English translation: flavour, taste

午餐

• Pinyin: wǔ cān
• Numbered pinyin: wu3 can1
• English translation: lunch

西餐

• Pinyin: xī cān
• Numbered pinyin: xi1 can1
• English translation: Western food

油

• Pinyin: yóu
• Numbered pinyin: you2
• English translation: oil

早餐

• Pinyin: zǎo cān
• Numbered pinyin: zao3 can1
• English translation: breakfast

中餐

• Pinyin: zhōng cān
• Numbered pinyin: zhong1 can1
• English translation: Chinese food

做饭

• Pinyin: zuò fàn
• Numbered pinyin: zuo4 fan4
• English translation: to cook, make a meal

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