té de boba
/te de boba/from spelling rules
The English phrase boba tea is translated into Spanish as té de boba.
The term refers to a tea-based drink that contains chewy tapioca pearls.
How do you pronounce it?
/te de boba/
Did you know?
- The term boba is a borrowed word from English, but its origins are actually Cantonese, where it refers to 'large breasts'.
- If you were to describe someone as boba in Spanish, you would be calling them 'dumb' rather than referring to a drink.
- Depending on the region, people may refer to the pearls as perlas instead of boba to avoid the confusion with the word for 'silly'.
Examples in context
- Me encanta tomar té de burbujas.I love drinking boba tea.
- ¿Quieres ir a tomar té con perlas?Do you want to go get some boba tea?
- Me gustaría probar el bubble tea. ¿Dónde puedo encontrarlo?I would like to try bubble tea. Where can I find it?
- Estoy antojado/a de tomar un té de boba.I'm craving some boba tea.
- Quiero un té de boba de vainilla.I want a vanilla boba tea.
- ¿Venden té de boba aquí?Do they sell boba tea here?
- El té de boba es muy dulce.The boba tea is very sweet.
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are at a shopping mall.
- AlejandroLucía, ¿tienes ganas de un té de boba?Lucía, do you feel like having a boba tea?
- Lucía¡Sí! Me encanta el té de boba.Yes! I love boba tea.
- AlejandroHay una tienda nueva aquí cerca.There is a new shop near here.
- LucíaPerfecto, vamos a comprar uno.Perfect, let's go buy one.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries boba, de, té, CC BY-SA 4.0.
