Here are Chinese words for food to start with: 早餐 (zǎo cān, breakfast), 咖啡 (kā fēi, coffee), 美味的 (měi wèi de, delicious), 餐厅 (cān tīng, restaurant). Below are 96 words (A1–C1) with their English translations, part of speech and a romanization to help you say them, across 12 themed lists.
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| breakfast | 早餐zǎo cān | noun | A1 |
| coffee | 咖啡kā fēi | noun | A1 |
| delicious | 美味的měi wèi de | adj | A1 |
| restaurant | 餐厅cān tīng | noun | A1 |
| waiter | 服务员fú wù yuán | noun | A1 |
| water | 水shuǐ | noun | A1 |
| bill | 账单zhàng dān | noun | A2 |
| spicy | 辣的là de | adj | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| bread | 面包miàn bāo | noun | A1 |
| cheese | 奶酪nǎi lào | noun | A1 |
| dinner | 晚餐wǎn cān | noun | A1 |
| fruit | 水果shuǐ guǒ | noun | A1 |
| lunch | 午餐wǔ cān | noun | A1 |
| meal | 餐cān | noun | A1 |
| vegetable | 蔬菜shū cài | noun | A1 |
| cooking | 烹饪pēng rèn | noun | A2 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| diet | 饮食yǐn shí | noun | A2 |
| feast | 筵席yán xí | noun | B1 |
| nutrition | 营养yíng yǎng | noun | B1 |
| delicacy | 佳肴jiā yáo | noun | B2 |
| flavorful | 味道浓郁的wèi dào nóng yù de | adj | B2 |
| grocery | 食品杂货shí pǐn zá huò | noun | B2 |
| cuisine | 美食měi shí | noun | C1 |
| culinary | 烹饪的pēng rèn de | adj | C1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| butter | 黄油huáng yóu | noun | A1 |
| egg | 鸡蛋jī dàn | noun | A1 |
| potato | 土豆tǔ dòu | noun | A1 |
| rice | 米mǐ | noun | A1 |
| sugar | 糖táng | noun | A1 |
| tomato | 番茄fān qié | noun | A1 |
| flour | 面粉miàn fěn | noun | A2 |
| salt | 盐yán | noun | A2 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| chili | 辣椒là jiāo | noun | A2 |
| basil | 罗勒luó lè | noun | B1 |
| coriander | 香菜xiāng cài | noun | B1 |
| cumin | 孜然zī rán | noun | B1 |
| oregano | 牛至niú zhì | noun | B1 |
| rosemary | 迷迭香mí dié xiāng | noun | B1 |
| thyme | 百里香bǎi lǐ xiāng | noun | B1 |
| turmeric | 姜黄jiāng huáng | noun | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| beans | 豆子dòu zi | noun | A2 |
| carrot | 胡萝卜hú luó bo | noun | A2 |
| peas | 豌豆wān dòu | noun | A2 |
| broccoli | 西兰花xī lán huā | noun | B1 |
| cabbage | 卷心菜juǎn xīn cài | noun | B1 |
| cauliflower | 菜花cài huā | noun | B1 |
| lettuce | 生菜shēng cài | noun | B1 |
| spinach | 菠菜bō cài | noun | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| apple | 苹果píng guǒ | noun | A1 |
| banana | 香蕉xiāng jiāo | noun | A1 |
| grape | 葡萄pú táo | noun | A1 |
| lemon | 柠檬níng méng | noun | A2 |
| lime | 青柠qīng níng | noun | A2 |
| melon | 甜瓜tián guā | noun | A2 |
| pear | 梨lí | noun | A2 |
| strawberry | 草莓cǎo méi | noun | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| corn | 玉米yù mǐ | noun | A1 |
| yogurt | 酸奶suān nǎi | noun | A1 |
| cream | 奶油nǎi yóu | noun | A2 |
| oat | 燕麦yàn mài | noun | B1 |
| rye | 黑麦hēi mài | noun | B1 |
| barley | 大麦dà mài | noun | B2 |
| buckwheat | 荞麦qiáo mài | noun | B2 |
| wheat | 小麦xiǎo mài | noun | B2 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| beef | 牛肉niú ròu | noun | A1 |
| ground beef | 碎牛肉suì niú ròu | noun | A2 |
| ham | 火腿huǒ tuǐ | noun | A2 |
| meatball | 肉丸ròu wán | noun | A2 |
| sausage | 香肠xiāng cháng | noun | A2 |
| steak | 牛排niú pái | noun | A2 |
| lamb | 羊肉yáng ròu | noun | B1 |
| pork | 猪肉zhū ròu | noun | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| juice | 果汁guǒ zhī | noun | A1 |
| milk | 牛奶niú nǎi | noun | A1 |
| tea | 茶chá | noun | A1 |
| champagne | 香槟酒xiāng bīn jiǔ | noun | A2 |
| lemonade | 柠檬水níng méng shuǐ | noun | A2 |
| soda | 汽水qì shuǐ | noun | A2 |
| sparkling water | 气泡水qì pào shuǐ | noun | A2 |
| smoothie | 冰沙bīng shā | noun | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| biscuit | 饼干bǐng gān | noun | A1 |
| bagel | 百吉饼bǎi jí bǐng | noun | A2 |
| baguette | 长棍面包zhǎng gùn miàn bāo | noun | A2 |
| donut | 甜甜圈tián tián quān | noun | A2 |
| muffin | 玛芬mǎ fēn | noun | A2 |
| pastry | 酥皮sū pí | noun | A2 |
| waffle | 华夫饼huá fū bǐng | noun | A2 |
| sourdough | 酸种面包suān zhǒng miàn bāo | noun | B1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| hot sauce | 辣酱là jiàng | noun | A2 |
| olive oil | 橄榄油gǎn lǎn yóu | noun | A2 |
| soy sauce | 酱油jiàng yóu | noun | A2 |
| bolognese | 博洛尼亚肉酱bó luò ní yà ròu jiàng | noun | B1 |
| fish sauce | 鱼露yú lù | noun | B1 |
| oyster sauce | 蚝油háo yóu | noun | B1 |
| sesame oil | 香油xiāng yóu | noun | B1 |
| relish | 酸黄瓜酱suān huáng guā jiàng | noun | B2 |
Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0
Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch
These lists show a sample of the A1–C1 words for food. The packs in Watch Your Language hold more and reach the advanced levels, along with every other topic.
The app shows them to you a few at a time, in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting.
You could start with words like 早餐 (zǎo cān, breakfast), 咖啡 (kā fēi, coffee), 美味的 (měi wèi de, delicious), 餐厅 (cān tīng, restaurant). This page lists 96 Chinese words for food (A1–C1), each with its English translation and part of speech.
Reading a list once is rarely enough. Watch Your Language shows Chinese words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and schedules repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.
Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.