吃 (chī) — to eat

Definition

The basic, everyday verb for eating food. 食用 is the formal/written equivalent, used in labels and official contexts.

verb
to eat

Examples

  • 吃。
    Wǒ chī le yí gè píng guǒ.
    I ate an apple.
  • ？
    Nǐ chī fàn le ma?
    Have you eaten?
  • 。
    Wǒ zǎo shàng chī fàn.
    I eat breakfast in the morning.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
乞
乞qǐ吃chī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吃 combines 口 (mouth) with 乞, which gives the sound; it originally wrote a word meaning to stutter.

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 1500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 11000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsFood (General)2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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