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快餐 (kuài cān) — fast food

Definition

快餐 means a quick, inexpensive meal you buy ready-made (fast food). Unlike 小吃, it's a full meal, not just a snack; 方便面 is one specific type of fast food you prepare yourself.

noun
fast food
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • 快餐。
    Wǒ zhōng wǔ cháng cháng chī kuài cān.
    I often eat fast food for lunch.
  • 。
    Zhè jiā kuài cān diàn de dōng xī hěn pián yi.
    The food at this fast food restaurant is very cheap.
  • ，快餐。
    Tā bù xiǎng zuò fàn, jiù qù chī kuài cān le.
    He didn't want to cook, so he went to eat fast food.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

快kuàiquick
餐cānmeal

快 says quick, and 餐 says meal, so the word means fast food.

Characters in this word

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
夬
夬guài快kuài
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

快 pairs the left part 忄 (full form 心, the heart) with the right part 夬, which gives the sound.

Open 快 →

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
食食shíto eat; meal; food
Sound part声符shēngfú
𣦼
𣦼𣦼餐cān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

餐 combines 食, meaning food or eating, with 𣦼 as the sound part; it originally meant “to swallow.”

Open 餐 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4Food (General)

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