筷子(kuài zi) - chopsticks in Mandarin

筷子 (kuàizi) is "chopsticks", the everyday eating tool that appears on every table where rice, noodles or stir-fried food is served. It takes the same measure word as most paired objects: 一双筷子 (yī shuāng kuàizi), "a pair of chopsticks", using 双 (shuāng), the measure word for things that come in twos, like shoes.

Learners often need the phrase 我不会用筷子 (Wǒ bú huì yòng kuàizi), "I can't use chopsticks", or the reassurance 用筷子不难 (yòng kuàizi bù nán), "using chopsticks isn't hard". 用 (yòng) means "to use".

One point of etiquette worth knowing: never stick your 筷子 (kuàizi) upright in a bowl of rice. It echoes the incense sticks burned for the dead at a funeral, so it reads as a bad omen rather than just bad manners.