蓝莓
lánméi
The English word 'blueberry' is 蓝莓 (lánméi) in Chinese.
蓝莓 is the standard term used to refer to the blueberry fruit.
Meaning: fruit (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of 蓝 (lán), meaning blue and 莓 (méi), meaning berry.
How do you pronounce it?
lánméi
Did you know?
- Blueberries are not native to China, so the term 蓝莓 is a relatively modern loan-translation (calque) from English, rather than an ancient Chinese word.
- While 'blueberry' is 蓝莓, the word for 'strawberry' is 草莓 (cǎoméi), which literally translates to 'grass berry' because the plant grows close to the ground.
- The character 蓝 is a phono-semantic compound where the top part represents 'grass' 艹, indicating that the 'blue' color originally referred to a specific plant or dye.
Examples in context
- 我喜欢蓝莓蛋糕！I like blueberry cake!This sentence is useful for expressing a preference for blueberry cake using 蓝莓.Tatoeba #9990128 by GlossaMatik, translation #10259138 by bekindtoall
- 他做的蓝莓蛋糕很美味。The blueberry cake he made was delicious.This sentence is useful for describing the deliciousness of a blueberry cake using 蓝莓.Tatoeba #4148227 by sissima, translation #4139480 by mervert1
- 这种蓝莓很新鲜。Zhè zhǒng lánméi hěn xīnxiān.These blueberries are very fresh.
Example conversation
A man and a woman are shopping at a grocery store.
- 佳怡 Jiayi你想买蓝莓吗？Nǐ xiǎng mǎi lánméi ma?Do you want to buy blueberries?
- 伟 Wei好啊，我也想买一些。Hǎo a, wǒ yě xiǎng mǎi yīxiē.Sure, I want to buy some too.
- 佳怡 Jiayi看看这些，蓝莓看起来不错。Kànkan zhèxiē, lánméi kàn qǐlái bùcuò.Look at these, the blueberries look good.
- 伟 Wei那我们就拿这两盒吧。Nà wǒmen jiù ná zhè liǎng hé ba.Then let's take these two boxes.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
