Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 奶酪 | nǎilào | /naɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China, Sinological IPA) /naɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ lu̯ɔ⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Taiwan, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 酪 | lào | /lɑʊ̯⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China, Sinological IPA) /lu̯ɔ⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Taiwan, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 乾酪 / 干酪 | gānlào | ||
| 乳酪 | rǔlào | /ɻu²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China, Sinological IPA) /ɻu²¹⁴⁻²¹ lu̯ɔ⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Taiwan, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 芝士 | zhīshì | /ʈ͡ʂɻ̩⁵⁵ ʂɻ̩⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /t͡siː⁵⁵ siː²²⁻³⁵/ (Cantonese, Guangzhou, Sinological IPA, Standard Cantonese, Hong Kong) |
|
| 起司 | qǐsī | /t͡ɕʰi²¹⁴⁻²¹ sɹ̩⁵⁵/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /t͡ɕʰi⁵¹ sɹ̩¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 起士 | qǐshì | /t͡ɕʰi²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɻ̩⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /t͡sʰi³¹ sɨ¹¹/ (Hakka, Sixian, Miaoli, Neipu, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 吉士 | jíshì | /t͡ɕi³⁵ ʂɻ̩⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) | |
| 奶酪 | ni-lo̍k | /nĩ⁴⁴⁻²² lɔk̚⁴/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Xiamen, Sinological IPA) | Hokkien |
The terms for cheese in Chinese range from standard descriptive terms to phonetic transliterations of the English word. While 奶酪 is a standard way to describe the dairy product, many other forms exist depending on whether you are using a transliteration or a more formal descriptive term.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 奶酪 is composed of 奶 (milk) and 酪 (dairy product/cheese).
Which one should you use?
奶酪 is the standard term for cheese. In contrast, 芝士 is a phonetic transliteration often used in mainland China and is frequently seen on menus. 起司 is another phonetic transliteration of 'cheese', but it is much more common in Taiwan than in mainland China.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Taiwan, the transliteration 起司 is much more common, whereas in mainland China, the transliteration 芝士 is frequently used. The Dungan form is нэло. The Hokkien form is 奶酪.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is ni-lo̍k.
When do people say it?
When posing for a photo to get people to smile, people in Chinese culture do not say 'cheese'. Instead, they say 茄子, which means 'eggplant'.
Did you know?
- The word 酪 may be related to the Mongolian word айраг for fermented mare's milk and the Turkish word ayran for a salty yoghurt drink.
- In the Dungan language, a Sinitic language spoken in Central Asia, the word for cheese is written as нэло using the Cyrillic alphabet.
- The term 干酪 is a more formal, descriptive way to refer to cheese in certain contexts.
Examples in context
- 奶酪是黄色的。The cheese is yellow.This sentence is useful for describing the color of the 奶酪.Tatoeba #2777863 by iMaple, translation #2771791 by carlosalberto
- 汤姆喜欢芝士。Tom likes cheese.This sentence is useful for expressing a preference for the 芝士.Tatoeba #6192370 by yuiyu, translation #37244 by CK
- 那聞起來像奶酪。That smells like cheese.This sentence is useful for describing a scent that resembles 奶酪.Tatoeba #5973322 by xjjAstrus, translation #10276494 by DaoSeng
- 周末去超市买些干酪吧。Let's go to the supermarket this weekend and buy some cheese.
- 我们刚才买的是瑞士乳酪。The cheese we just bought is Swiss cheese.
- 一起来吃披萨，上面有很多起司。Let's have pizza together, it has a lot of cheese on top.
- 这个三明治里面有很多奶酪。This sandwich has a lot of cheese inside.
- 30 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A couple is deciding what to buy at the supermarket.
- 俊杰 Junjie雨婷，你想买奶酪吗？Yǔtíng, nǐ xiǎng mǎi nǎilào ma?Yuting, do you want to buy cheese?
- 雨婷 Yuting我想买，可是这种奶酪太咸了。Wǒ xiǎng mǎi, kěshì zhè zhǒng nǎilào tài xián le.I want to buy it, but this cheese is too salty.
- 俊杰 Junjie那我们买别的奶酪吧。Nà wǒmen mǎi bié de nǎilào ba.Then let's buy some other cheese.
- 雨婷 Yuting好的，俊杰。Hǎo de, Jùnjié.Okay, Junjie.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cheese” translations and entries 奶酪, 酪, 乳酪, 芝士, 起司, 起士, 吉士, 奶酪, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 酪, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
