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Chinese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "to eat" in Chinese?
吃
chī
In Chinese, "to eat" is 吃.
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Pronunciation
Say CHIR with a flat, high tone. Hold the pitch steady and high without wavering.
Writing and usage
The character has six strokes with a mouth radical (口) at the bottom, showing the eating action of putting food in the mouth.
Example sentence
我吃米饭。
I eat rice.
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How to remember 吃
The mouth radical makes this obvious. Think of food going into your mouth when you see this character.
Related words
- insert 放 fàng
- jump off 跳 tiào
- open 打开 dǎ kāi
- read 读 dú
- shoot 射 shè
- shower 洗澡 xǐ zǎo
- take 拍 pāi
- walk 走 zǒu
- work 工作 gōng zuò
Browse all Chinese words in the glossary.
Questions about 吃
How do you say "to eat" in Chinese?
In Chinese, "to eat" is 吃. It is a noun.
How is 吃 written in Chinese?
The character has six strokes with a mouth radical (口) at the bottom, showing the eating action of putting food in the mouth.
How is 吃 used in a sentence?
Use 吃 as you would use the equivalent noun in English. For example: 我吃米饭。 (I eat rice.).
Where can I practice Chinese words for free?
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"To eat" in other languages
Curated by Jack Ratcliffe
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