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Food and Measure Words, by Shu Ting
How to order food in a Chinese restaurant with the right measure words?
The Chinese language has special words, known as measure words (量词/量詞/liàngcí), that are used with numbers to define the quantity of a given object, or with demonstratives such as "this" and "that" to identify specific objects.Below is a small introduction to these words when it comes to food.
你好， 请 给 我 菜 单，谢 谢。
你好， 請 給 我 菜 單，謝 謝。
Hello, Can I have the menu, please
nǐ hǎo，qǐng gěi wǒ cài dān，xiè xie。
我 可 以 点 菜 了。
我 可 以 點 菜 了。
I am ready to order.
wǒ kě yǐ diǎn cài le
Measure word 份/fèn
我 想 要 一份 ...我 想 要 一份 ...
wǒ xiǎng yào yífèn ...
Can I have one ...
... 炒饭/炒飯 [chǎo fàn] fried rice
... 炒青菜 [chǎo qīng cài] fried vegetable
... 糖醋鱼/糖醋魚 [táng cù yú] sweet and sour fish
... 凤梨虾球/鳳梨蝦球 [fèng lí xiā qiú] pineapple and shrimp ball
... 皮蛋豆腐 [pí dàn dòu fǔ] preserved egg and tofu
Measure word 碗/wǎn
我 想 要 一碗 ...我 想 要 一碗 ...
wǒ xiǎng yào yìwǎn ...
Can I have one ...
... 汤/湯 [tāng] soup
... 饭/飯 [fàn] rice
... 面/麵 [miàn] noodle
... 稀饭/稀飯 [xī fàn] porridge
Measure word 杯/bēi
我 想 要 一杯 ...我 想 要 一杯 ...
wǒ xiǎng yào yìbēi ...
Can I have one ...
... 水 [shuǐ] water
... 咖啡 [kā fēi] coffee
... 茶 [chá] tea
... 可乐/可樂 [kě lè] coke
... 豆浆/豆漿 [dòu jiāng] soybean milk
... 奶茶 [nǎi chá] milk tea
Measure word 个/個/ge
我 想 要 一个 ...我 想 要 一個 ...
wǒ xiǎng yào yíge ...
Can I have one ...
... 水饺/水餃 [shuǐ jiǎo] dumpling
... 包子 [bāo zi] steamed buns
... 馒头/饅頭 [mán tou] steamed bread
Measure word 笼/籠/lóng
我 想 要 一笼 ...
我 想 要 一籠 ...
wǒ xiǎng yào yìlóng ...
Can I have one ...
... 小笼包/小籠包 [xiǎo lóng bāo] soup dumpling
... 蒸饺/蒸餃 [zhēng jiǎo] steamed dumpling
More details on the Chinese measure words can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_classifier