Talking about Food in Mandarin Chinese: 食物 (Shíwù)

Welcome to the delicious world of Food in Mandarin Chinese! Learning about food is one of the most exciting and practical aspects of mastering a new language. Whether you’re ordering at a restaurant, grocery shopping, or simply chatting with Chinese friends, knowing these basic terms will open up a whole new level of communication and cultural understanding. In this article, we’ll cover essential vocabulary, useful expressions, and even a fun story to help you practice. Let’s dig in! 让我们开始吧 (Ràng wǒmen kāishǐ ba)!

A. Vocabulary

Learn the following vocabulary about food.

Note: If you’re using a mobile phone and the audio doesn’t play, then switch to desktop mode.

VOCABULRY OF FOOD IN MANDARIN CHINESE
No	Picture	English	Chinese Character (Simplified)	Pinyin	Audio
1		food	食物	shíwù
2		raw rice grains	米	mǐ
3		cooked rice, or a meal, or food in general	饭	fàn
4		cooked rice	米饭	mǐfàn
5		noodles	面条	miàntiáo
6		steamed bun	包子	bāozi
7		steamed bread	馒头	mántou
8		bread	面包	miànbāo
9		cookie, cracker	饼干	bǐnggān
10		cake	蛋糕	dàngāo
11		dumplings	饺子	jiǎozi
12		dim sum	点心	diǎnxīn
13		shaomai	烧卖	shāomài
14		dish (referring to a cooked dish), vegetable	菜	cài
15		vegetables	蔬菜	shūcài
16		salad	沙拉	shālā
17		fruit	水果	shuǐguǒ
18		soup	汤	tāng
19		meatball	肉丸	ròu wán
20		fish	鱼	yú
21		chicken meat	鸡肉	jīròu
22		Peking duck	北京烤鸭	Běijīng kǎoyā
23		egg	鸡蛋	jīdàn
24		meat	肉	ròu
25		beef	牛肉	niúròu
授人以鱼不如授人以渔 (Shòu rén yǐ yú bùrú shòu rén yǐ yú) Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him to fish.

To better master the vocabulary above, please listen to the complete list by playing the following audio.

B. Useful Expressions

These phrases will help you talk about food in various situations.

Listen to the full audio below to strengthen your understanding of the expressions above!

C. Reading Activity

Read the following text about Xiaoming’s day and what he eats. Try to identify the food vocabulary you’ve learned. You can also listen to the audio of the text to better understand the pronunciation and deepen your comprehension.

小明的一天
Xiǎomíng de Yì Tiān
Xiaoming’s Day

小明早上起床，他有点儿饿。
Xiǎomíng zǎoshang qǐchuáng, tā yǒudiǎnr è.
Xiaoming woke up in the morning, he was a little hungry.

他吃了面包和鸡蛋。
Tā chī le miànbāo hé jīdàn.
He ate bread and eggs.

中午，小明去食堂吃饭。他喜欢吃面条和鱼。
Zhōngwǔ, Xiǎomíng qù shítáng chīfàn. Tā xǐhuān chī miàotiáo hé yú.
At noon, Xiaoming went to the canteen to eat. He likes to eat noodles and fish.

晚上，小明和家人一起吃晚饭。他们吃了米饭、鸡肉和蔬菜。
Wǎnshang, Xiǎomíng hé jiārén yìqǐ chī wǎnfàn. Tāmen chī le mǐfàn, jīròu hé shūcài.
In the evening, Xiaoming and his family ate dinner together. They ate rice, chicken, and vegetables.

最后，他们还吃了一些水果，比如苹果和香蕉。
Zuìhòu, tāmen hái chī le yì xiē shuǐguǒ, bǐrú píngguǒ hé xiāngjiāo.
Finally, they also ate some fruit, such as apples and bananas.

小明觉得今天吃得很好，他吃饱了。
Xiǎomíng juéde jīntiān chī de hěn hǎo, tā chī bǎo le.
Xiaoming felt he ate very well today, he was full.

Take the following quiz to see how well you understood the text above.

D. Grammar Aspect

Expressing Liking: 喜欢 (xǐhuān)

To say you like something, or like doing something, you use the verb 喜欢 (xǐhuān). The basic structure is:

Subject + 喜欢 (xǐhuān) + (Verb) + Object

Let’s look at examples from the text above and other food vocabulary:

Liking a Food Item:

If you like a food item directly, you can say:

我喜欢 + [Food Item]。

Example:

-我喜欢米饭。 (Wǒ xǐhuān mǐfàn.) – I like rice.
-她喜欢饺子。 (Tā xǐhuān jiǎozi.) – She likes dumplings.

Liking to Eat a Specific Food:

More commonly, when talking about food, you might like eating it. In this case, you add the verb 吃 (chī) (to eat) before the food item:

Subject + 喜欢 (xǐhuān) + 吃 (chī) + [Food Item]。

From the text above: 他喜欢吃面条和鱼。 (Tā xǐhuān chī miàntiáo hé yú.) – He likes to eat noodles and fish. (This shows Xiaoming’s preference at the canteen).

Example: 我喜欢吃面包。 (Wǒ xǐhuān chī miànbāo.) – I like to eat bread.

Negative Form (Don’t Like):

To say you don’t like something, you put 不 (bù) directly before 喜欢 (xǐhuān):

Subject + 不喜欢 (bù xǐhuān) + (Verb) + Object。

Example: 我不喜欢吃鱼。 (Wǒ bù xǐhuān chī yú.) – I don’t like to eat fish.

Asking Questions (Do you like…?):

To ask if someone likes something, you add the question particle 吗 (ma) at the end of the statement:

Subject + 喜欢 (xǐhuān) + (Verb) + Object + 吗？

Example: 你喜欢吃蔬菜吗？ (Nǐ xǐhuān chī shūcài ma?) – Do you like to eat vegetables?

Possible Responses:

喜欢。 (Xǐhuān.) – Yes, I do.
不喜欢。 (Bù xǐhuān.) – No, I don’t.

E. Dialogue for Practice

Practice the following dialogue with your partner! You can listen to the audio first to help you practice the pronunciation.

在食堂
Zài Shítáng
At the Canteen

大卫 (Dàwèi): 小明，你饿了吗？
Xiǎomíng, nǐ è le ma?
Xiaoming, are you hungry?

小明 (Xiǎomíng): 我有点儿饿了。我们去食堂吃饭吧！
Wǒ yǒudiǎnr è le. Wǒmen qù shítáng chīfàn ba!
I’m a little hungry. Let’s go to the canteen to eat!

大卫 (Dàwèi): 好啊！你喜欢吃什么？
Hǎo a! Nǐ xǐhuān chī shénme?
Great! What do you like to eat?

小明 (Xiǎomíng): 我喜欢吃面条。你呢？
Wǒ xǐhuān chī miàntiáo. Nǐ ne?
I like to eat noodles. How about you?

大卫 (Dàwèi): 我喜欢吃米饭和鸡肉。食堂的鸡肉很好吃。
Wǒ xǐhuān chī mǐfàn hé jīròu. Shítáng de jīròu hěn hǎochī.
I like to eat rice and chicken. The canteen’s chicken is very delicious.

小明 (Xiǎomíng): 真的吗？那我也试试鸡肉。
Zhēnde ma? Nà wǒ yě shìshi jīròu.
Really? Then I’ll try the chicken too.

(他们吃完饭后)
Tāmen chī wán fàn hòu – After they finish eating

大卫 (Dàwèi): 小明，你吃饱了吗？
Xiǎomíng, nǐ chī bǎo le ma?
(Xiaoming, are you full?)

小明 (Xiǎomíng): 我吃饱了！今天的饭很好吃。
Wǒ chī bǎo le! Jīntiān de fàn hěn hǎochī.
I’m full! Today’s meal was very delicious.

大卫 (Dàwèi): 是啊，我也吃饱了。
Shì a, wǒ yě chī bǎo le.
Yes, I’m full too.