I’d like a cup of tea

Lesson 12

Are you thirsty to learn more everyday Chinese? In this lesson you’ll learn different types of drinks and some expressions necessary to order drinks.

Beverages and Drinks

水	shuǐ	water
咖啡	kāfēi	coffee
牛奶	niúnǎi	milk
豆浆	dòujiāng	soy milk
茶	chá	tea
红茶	hóngchá	black tea
绿茶	lǜchá	green tea
冰茶	bīngchá	iced tea
奶茶	nǎichá	milk tea
果汁	guǒzhī	juice
汽水	qìshuǐ	soda
可乐	kělè	Coke
酒	jiǔ	alcohol
啤酒	píjiǔ	beer
葡萄酒	pútaojiǔ	wine

Ordering drinks

渴	kě	thirsty
喝	hē	to drink
杯	bēi	cup; glass
瓶	píng	bottle
请	qǐng	please
给	gěi	give
加	jiā	to add
糖	táng	sugar
冰	bīng	cold (icy); ice
热	rè	hot; warm
冷	lěng	cold
多	duō	many; more
少	shǎo	few; less
还是	háishi	or

Notes

When referring to temperatures or how you feel, we use the antonyms “热” and “冷” to mean hot and cold respectively. However, when referring to drinks, we use “冰” instead of “冷” to refer to cold. This is easy to remember because the word “冰” also means ice, and we usually add ice to cold drinks.

The word “还是” is used to mean “or” when presenting two options or choices (“A还是B”). For example: 你要蓝色的还是红色的？(Do you want the blue one or the red one?)

Key Expressions

我很渴。	Wǒ hěn kě.	I am thirsty.
你要喝什么？	Nǐ yào hē shénme?	What do you want to drink?
我要一杯绿茶。	Wǒ yào yībēi lǜchá.	I want a cup of green tea.
我要一瓶可乐。	Wǒ yào yì píng kělè.	I want a bottle of coke.
我能喝三瓶啤酒。	Wǒ néng hē sān píng píjiǔ.	I can drink three beers.
我想喝一杯冰红茶。	Wǒ xiǎng hē yī bēi bīnghóngchá.	I’d like to drink a glass of iced tea.
请给我一杯热咖啡。	Qǐng gěi wǒ yībēi rè kāfēi.	Please give me a hot cup of coffee.
冰的还是热的？	Bīng de háishi rè de?	Cold or hot?
多加糖。	Duō jiā táng.	Add more sugar.
少加糖。	Shǎo jiā táng.	Add less sugar.
不加糖。	Bùjiā táng.	Don’t add sugar.
我很热，我想喝冰水。	Wǒ hěn rè, wǒ xiǎng hē bīngshuǐ.	I’m hot, I’d like to drink cold water.
我很冷，给我一杯热牛奶。	Wǒ hěn lěng, gěi wǒ yībēi rè niúnǎi.	I’m cold, give me a glass of warm milk.