巧克力
qiǎokèlì
巧克力 (qiǎokèlì) is the Chinese word for chocolate. Wiktionary also lists 朱古力 (zhūgǔlì).
Meaning: food made from ground roasted cocoa beans (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 巧克力 | qiǎokèlì | |
| 朱古力 | zhūgǔlì | dated |
巧克力 refers to the food made from ground roasted cocoa beans. You can use 巧克力 as an adjective meaning 'chocolate' (for example, chocolate cake) by placing it directly before a noun. To specify types of chocolate, you can add descriptors: 黑巧克力 for dark chocolate, 牛奶巧克力 for milk chocolate and 白巧克力 for white chocolate.
What does it mean word for word?
The term for the color chocolate is created by adding the character 色 (color) to the word, resulting in 巧克力色.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Taiwanese Mandarin, the term for chocolate is 巧克力.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
qiǎokèlì
Did you know?
- In Cantonese speaking regions like Hong Kong, you are more likely to see 朱古力 used for chocolate instead of 巧克力.
- Chinese lacks a native word for chocolate because the cacao bean is not indigenous to Asia, necessitating the use of borrowed sounds.
- Because 巧克力 is a transliteration, the individual characters like 巧 (skillful) or 力 (strength) do not contribute to the definition of the food.
Examples in context
- 我会买巧克力。I will buy chocolate.This sentence shows how to use 巧克力 to express the intent to buy it.Tatoeba #12615473 by Enzo, translation #12615433 by jacoblaguerre
- 她也喜欢巧克力。She loves chocolate, too.This sentence demonstrates using 巧克力 to express someone's preference.Tatoeba #1428135 by sadhen, translation #311595 by CK
- 琳达喜欢吃巧克力。Linda likes eating chocolate.This sentence shows using 巧克力 to describe the act of eating it.Tatoeba #5094763 by Jin_Dehong, translation #5313622 by csmjj
- 65 more sentences on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “chocolate” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
