(chī) - to eat in Mandarin
chīTraditional: 吃
Translation
to eat
Word origin
吃 is a phono-semantic compound: the 口 (mouth) radical gives the meaning, eating, and 乞 (qǐ) supplies the sound. The mouth element makes the eating sense transparent.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 口 (kǒu, mouth radical) + 乞 (qǐ, phonetic)
Stroke order
吃
Examples
？
Have you eaten?
。
I want to eat rice.
。
Let's go eat together.
。
He fell asleep after taking the medicine.
。
The child doesn't like eating meat.
吃 (chī) means to eat. It is used as a verb in everyday Mandarin speech.
Where this fits
Appears in 2 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 吃.
Used in
Stories
(10)Grammar articles
(35)Mandarin Adjectives as Stative Verbs: Why 'I Am Cold' Is 我冷, Not 我是冷
Mandarin Advanced Grammar (C1-C2 / HSK 6+): Chengyu, Classical Remnants, and Register
Mandarin Aspect Markers: 了, 在/正在, 过 - the System That Replaces Tense
The Mandarin 把 (bǎ) Construction: Fronting the Object to Say What You Did To It
The Mandarin 被 (bèi) Passive: Saying Something Was Done To the Subject
不但...而且 in Mandarin: Not Only A But Also B (不仅, 还, 也, 并且)
Mandarin Causatives 使 (shǐ), 令 (lìng) and 让 (ràng): Making Someone Feel or Do Something
Mandarin Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
Mandarin Co-verbs: 从, 到, 在, 用, 坐, 给 - the Prepositions That Look Like Verbs
Mandarin Complements: 得 for Manner, Directional Endings, and How to Attach a Result to a Verb
Mandarin Verb Conjugation: Why It Doesn't Exist and What Replaces It
Mandarin Conjunctions: 虽然…但是, 因为…所以, 如果…就 and the Paired Structures That Join Clauses
Figurative Directional Complements in Mandarin: 起来, 下去 and 出来 Beyond Up, Down and Out
The Double 了 Sentence in Mandarin: 我学了三年中文了 and the Continuing-Action Pattern
Duration Complements in Mandarin (时量补语): How to Say How Long an Action Lasts
Mandarin Greetings and Survival Phrases: Say Something Today
The Experiential 过 (guò) in Mandarin: Saying You Have Ever Done Something
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
Mandarin Question Words: 什么 (shénme), 谁 (shéi), 哪 (nǎ) and Friends Stay Where the Answer Goes
就 (jiù) vs 才 (cái) in Mandarin: Sooner Than Expected, Later Than Expected
The Two 了 in Mandarin: Completion 了 After the Verb vs Change-of-State 了 at the End
Mandarin Location and Existence: 在 for Where, 有 for There Is, and the 上/下/里/外 Position Words
Mandarin Modal Verbs: 会, 想, 要, 应该, 可以, 能 and the Future-Intent Words 打算, 准备
Mandarin Numbers, Time, Dates, and Currency: From 1 to 1,000,000, the 二/两 Split, and Time-Before-Verb
The Spoken Passives 让 (ràng), 叫 (jiào) and 给 (gěi): What People Say Instead of 被
Mandarin Potential Complements: Can You Reach the Result? (吃得完, 听不懂, 买不起)
Mandarin Question Formation: 吗, V-Not-V, 还是, and the In-Situ Wh-Word System
Mandarin Resultative Complements: Fusing a Result onto the Verb (看见, 吃完, 找到)
Serial Verb Constructions in Mandarin: 我去商店买东西 and Stacking Verbs in Sequence
Topic-Comment Structure in Mandarin: Fronting 这本书我看过 and Why Word Order Bends
Mandarin Verb-Object Verbs: Why 'To Eat' Is 吃饭 and How It Splits Apart
Mandarin Sentence Structure: Word Order, Topic-Comment and the 把 Construction
又 (yòu) vs 再 (zài) vs 还 (hái) in Mandarin: The Three Ways to Say 'Again'
The Mandarin 者 (zhě) Suffix: 作者, 读者, 前者, and Naming the One Who Does It
Mandarin 之 (zhī): 之一, 之间, 之后, 之中, 总之 and the Written Ancestor of 的
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吃: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "吃" (to eat): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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