Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Hi! Welcome to Chinese Top Words. Today, we are going to learn top 10 must-know vocabulary for the restaurant.
1. 服务员 (fúwùyuán) “waiter/waitress)
服务员，我们要两杯水。 (Fúwùyuán, wǒmen yào liǎng bēi shuǐ.) “Waiter, we need two glasses of water.”
If you want iced water, I will suggest to you to say - 服务员，我们要两杯冰水。(Fúwùyuán, wǒmen yào liǎng bēi bīng shuǐ.). 冰水 (Bīng shuǐ) means “iced water”.
2. 菜单 (càidān) “menu”
这是我们的新菜单。 (Zhè shì wǒmen de xīn càidān.) “This is our new menu.”
In China, it’s so easy. Even if you do not know any Chinese, the menu is like a book. Every dish has a picture on that. The only problem for Chinese menu is maybe you will get a dish which is not fully consistent with the picture.
3. 点菜 (diǎncài) “to order”
可以点菜了吗？ (Kěyǐ diǎncài le ma?) “Can we order now?”
4. 酒 (jiǔ) “alcoholic drink”
不好意思，我不喝酒。 (Bùhǎoyìsi, Wǒ bù hē jiǔ.) “Sorry, I don't drink alcohol.”
5. 饮料 (yǐnliào) “non-alcoholic drink”
你想喝什么饮料？可乐还是果汁？ (Nǐ xiǎng hē shénme yǐnliào? Kělè hái shì guǒzhī?) “What kind of drink do you want? Cola or juice?”
So in China, cola is not necessarily Coca-Cola. It’s actually a category. So Pepsi is one of the cola. For example, if you want other cola, you might get a Pepsi, you might get a Chinese-brand cola, you might get a Coca-Cola. You never knew.
6. 特色菜 (tèsè cài) “specialty”
你们这的特色菜是什么？ (Nǐmen zhè de tèsè cài shì shénme?) “What is your specialty dish?”
This is very commonly used question when I’m in a Chinese restaurant. I don’t want to get disappointed and this is the most direct and easy way for you to get delicious food.
7. 筷子 (kuàizi) “chopsticks”
你的筷子用得很好。 (Nǐ de kuàizi yòng de hěn hǎo.) “You are good at using chopsticks.”
I never have experienced of saying this sentence in Chinese. I guess everybody is good at using chopsticks. Otherwise, they cannot survive in China.
8. 刀叉 (dāochā) “fork and knife”
清再来一副刀叉。 (Qǐngzài lái yífù dāochā.) “Another set of forks and knives, please.”
9. 买单 (mǎidān) “to get the check”
服务员，买单。 (Fúwùyuán, mǎidān.) “Waiter, check please.”
Or you can say - 结账 (Jiézhàng). It also means “check please”.
10. 好吃 (hǎochī) “tasty”
这道牛排很好吃。 (Zhè dào niúpái hěn hǎochī.) “This steak tasted very good.”
Or if you want to stress this dish is really, really good, you can say - 这道牛排好好吃。 (Zhè dào niúpái hǎo hǎochī.)
So thank you for watching today’s video. Don’t forget to subscribe to ChineseClass101.com. Let us know which is your favorite Chinese dish and I will see you again. Bye!

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