吃 chī — to eat

Meanings

1. 1

   to eat

   To eat solid food. Chinese keeps eating and drinking strictly apart: anything liquid takes 喝, so it is 喝水, never 吃水.

   verb

Character breakdown

• 吃

  chī (first tone, high and level)

  to eat; to take (a meal, medicine); to absorb, to take in

  6 strokes⿰口乞Radical 口

Example sentences

• 我想吃米饭。/我想吃米飯。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) xiǎng (third tone, dipping) chī (first tone, high and level) mǐfàn. (third tone, dipping)···

  I’d like some rice.

• 你今天吃苹果了吗？/你今天吃蘋果了嗎？Nǐ (third tone, dipping) jīntiān (first tone, high and level) chī (first tone, high and level) píngguǒ (second tone, rising) le (neutral tone) ma? (neutral tone)···

  Did you have an apple today?

Common mistakes

• Not quite我吃水。

  Correct我喝水。

  Liquids are never "eaten" in Chinese. Water, tea and juice all take 喝, even where another language would say "have".

Similar words

Words containing 吃

• 吃饭/吃飯chī (first tone, high and level) fàn (fourth tone, falling)to have a meal
• 好吃hǎochī (third tone, dipping)tasty, delicious
• 吃惊/吃驚chī (first tone, high and level) jīng (first tone, high and level)to be startled
• 大吃一惊/大吃一驚dà (fourth tone, falling) chī (first tone, high and level) yī (first tone, high and level) jīng (first tone, high and level)to have a surprise (idiom); shocked or startled
• 吃亏/吃虧chī (first tone, high and level) kuī (first tone, high and level)to suffer losses
• 吃力chī (first tone, high and level) lì (fourth tone, falling)to entail strenuous effort
• 吃苦chī (first tone, high and level) kǔ (third tone, dipping)to bear
• 口吃kǒu (third tone, dipping) chī (first tone, high and level)to stammer; to stutter
• 吃喝玩乐/吃喝玩樂chī (first tone, high and level) hē (first tone, high and level) wán (second tone, rising) lè (fourth tone, falling)to eat, drink and be merry (idiom)
• 吃不上chī (first tone, high and level) bu (neutral tone) shàng (fourth tone, falling)unable to get anything to eat
• 小吃xiǎo (third tone, dipping) chī (first tone, high and level)snack; local delicacy