Traditional: 喫
chī HSK 1

English Meaning

Categories

📚 Example Sentences

我吃饭。
Wǒ chī fàn.
I eat food.
他吃苹果。
Tā chī píngguǒ.
He eats an apple.
她爱吃。
Tā ài chī.
She loves to eat.
我每天早上吃早餐。
Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang chī zǎocān.
I eat breakfast every morning.
她吃一个苹果当零食。
Tā chī yīgè píngguǒ dāng língshí.
She eats an apple for a snack.

💡 Memory Tip

Think of the character 吃: the left radical 口 (kǒu) means 'mouth,' and the right part 乞 (qǐ) sounds like 'chi,' reminding you that eating involves the mouth. Associate it with common phrases like '吃饭' to reinforce its meaning in daily use.

📝 Usage Notes

吃 is used in both formal and informal contexts, as well as in spoken and written Chinese. It is common in everyday conversations about food, meals, and dining, such as asking about preferences or describing eating habits. It can also appear in idiomatic expressions or metaphors, like 吃亏 (chī kuī, to suffer a loss).

📖 Grammar Points

吃 can be used in various grammar patterns, such as with objects (e.g., 吃苹果, to eat an apple), in resultative complements (e.g., 吃完, to finish eating), and in serial verb constructions (e.g., 去吃饭, to go eat). It also appears in the 把 (bǎ) structure (e.g., 把饭吃了, to eat the meal).

🏯 Cultural Notes

In Chinese culture, 吃 is deeply tied to social and family life, as meals are often communal and symbolic of hospitality. Phrases like 你吃了吗?(Nǐ chī le ma?, Have you eaten?) are common greetings, reflecting concern for well-being. Eating together strengthens relationships, and food-related idioms are prevalent in language.

🔄 Similar Words

Similar words include 食 (shí, to eat, more formal/literary) and 用餐 (yòng cān, to dine, formal/polite). 吃 is the most common and casual term for eating in modern Chinese, while 食 is often used in compound words or classical contexts, and 用餐 is more formal for dining occasions.

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