Chinese For Dummies (44 page)

Nǐde dìzhǐ shì shénme?
你的地址是什么
? (
你的地址是甚麼
?) (nee-duh dee-jir shir shummuh?) (
What's your address?
)

Nǐ shénme shíhòu zài jiā?
你什么时侯在家
? (
你甚麼時候在家
?) (nee shummuh shir-ho dzye jyah?) (
When will you be at home?/When are you home?
)

You may also talk about your home from time to time. These words and phrases can come in handy:

Wǒ zhù de shì gōngyù.
我住的是公寓
. (waw joo duh shir goong-yew.) (
I live in an apartment.
)

Wǒmen zhù de shì fángzi.
我们住的是房子
. (
我們住的是房子
) (waw-mun joo duh shir fahng-dzuh.) (
We live in a house.
)

Wǒ zhù zài chénglǐ.
我住在城里
. (
我住在城裡
.) (waw joo dzye chuhng-lee.) (
I live in the city.
)

Wǒ zhù zài jiāowài.
我住在郊外
. (waw joo dzye jyaow-why.) (
I live in the suburbs.
)

Wǒ zhù zài nóngcūn.
我住在农村
. (
我住在農村
.) (waw joo dzye noong-tswun.) (
I live in the countryside.
)

In addition to your
diànhuà hàomǎ
电话号码
(
電話號碼
) (dyan-hwah how-mah) (
phone number
) and your
dìzhǐ
地址
(dee-jir) (
address
), most people also want to know your
diànzǐ yóuxiāng dìzhǐ
电子邮箱地址
(
電子郵箱地址
) (dyan-dzuh yo-shyahng dee-jir) (
e-mail address
). And if you find yourself in a more formal situation, giving someone your
míngpiàn
名片
(meeng-pyan) (
business card
) may be appropriate. (To find out how to pronounce numbers, refer to
Chapter 5
.)

 Fun & Games

Match these people with the words that identify their professions. Check out
Appendix D
for the answers.

Chapter 8

Dining Out and Shopping for Food

In This Chapter

Eating, Chinese style

Ordering and conversing in restaurants

Drinking up tea knowledge

Shopping for groceries

Y
ou may think you already know what Chinese food is all about, but if you suddenly find yourself a guest in a Chinese friend's home or the guest of honor at a banquet for your company's new branch in Shanghai, you may want to keep reading. This chapter not only helps you communicate when you're hungry or thirsty, go grocery shopping, and order food in a restaurant but also gives you some useful tips on how to be both a wonderful guest and a gracious host when you have only one shot at making a good impression.

Feeling hungry yet? Allow me to whet your appetite by inviting you to take a closer look at world-renowned Chinese cuisine. No doubt you're already familiar with a great many Chinese dishes, from chow mein and chop suey to sweet and sour pork to that delicious favorite of all Chinese fare,
dim sum.

Exploring Chinese food and Chinese eating etiquette is a great way to discover Chinese culture. You can also use what you discover in this chapter to impress your date by ordering in Chinese the next time you eat out.

All About Meals

If you feel hungry when beginning this section, you should stop to
chī
吃
(chir) (
eat
)
fàn
饭
(
飯
) (fahn) (
food
). In fact,
fàn
always comes up when you talk about meals in China. Different meals throughout the day, for example, are called

zǎofàn
早饭
(
早飯
) (dzaow-fahn) (
breakfast
)

wǔfàn
午饭
(
午飯
) (woo-fahn) (
lunch
)

wǎnfàn
晚饭
(
晚飯
) (wahn-fahn) (
dinner
)

For centuries, Chinese people greeted each other not by saying
Nǐ hǎo ma?
你好吗
? (
你好嗎
?) (nee how ma?) (
How are you?
) but rather by saying
Nǐ chīfàn le méiyǒu?
你吃饭了没有
? (
ä½ 
吃飯了沒有
?) (nee chir-fahn luh mayo?) (Literally: “
Have you eaten?
”)

In China,
fàn
actually means some kind of grain or starch-based staple. You can have
mǐfàn
米饭
(
米飯
) (mee-fahn) (
rice
), which can be
chǎo fàn
炒饭
(
炒飯
) (chaow fahn) (
fried white rice
) or
bái mǐfàn
白米饭
(
白米飯
) (bye mee-fahn) (
boiled white rice
);
miàntiáo
面条
(
面條
) (myan-tyaow) (
noodles
);
màntóu
馒头
(
饅頭
) (mahn-toe) (
steamed bread
);
bāozi
包子
(baow-dzuh) (
steamed buns
); or
jiǎozi
饺子
(
餃子
)
(jyaow-dzuh) (
dumplings
). As you can see, you have many types of
fàn
to choose from.

Satisfying your hunger

If you're hungry, you can say
Wǒ hěn è.
我很饿
. (
我很餓
.) (waw hun uh.) (
I'm very hungry.
) and wait for a friend to invite you for a bite to eat. If you're thirsty, just say
Wǒde kǒu hěn kě.
我的口很渴
. (waw-duh ko hun kuh.) (Literally:
My mouth is very dry.
) to hear offers for all sorts of drinks. You may not get a chance to even utter these words, however, because Chinese rules of hospitality dictate offering food and drink to guests right off the bat.

You have a few subtle ways to get across the idea that you're hungry without appearing too forward. You can say any of the following:

Nǐ è bú è?
你饿不饿
? (
你餓不餓
?) (nee uh boo uh?) (
Are you hungry?
)