玉米
yùmǐ
The Chinese word for corn is 玉米 (yùmǐ).
玉米 refers to the tall plant that produces large ears of yellow or white kernels used for food.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 玉米 literally translates to 'jade rice', referring to the precious appearance of the kernels.
Which one should you use?
You can specify the variety of corn by adding a color or descriptive adjective before the word: 甜玉米 (tián yùmǐ) for sweet corn, 黄玉米 (huáng yùmǐ) for yellow corn, 白玉米 (bái yùmǐ) for white corn and 蓝玉米 (lán yùmǐ) for blue corn.
How do you pronounce it?
yùmǐ
Did you know?
- In some Chinese dialects, corn is referred to as 棒子 (bàngzi), which also means 'club' or 'stick'.
- In ancient Chinese medicine, different parts of the 玉米 plant, such as the corn silk, are used as traditional diuretics.
- While 玉米 is the standard term, in many northern Chinese dialects, people colloquially refer to it as 苞米 (bāomǐ).
Examples in context
- 我玉米過敏。I'm allergic to corn.This sentence is useful for expressing an allergy to 玉米.Tatoeba #6947201 by xjjAstrus, translation #4428228 by CK
- 我喜歡玉米。I like corn.This sentence is useful for stating a preference for 玉米.Tatoeba #13138805 by LeviHighway, translation #12933922 by rul
- 我不喜歡玉米。I don't like corn.This sentence is useful for stating a dislike of 玉米.Tatoeba #6947204 by xjjAstrus, translation #6588006 by Eccles17
- 请给我一些玉米片。Please give me some corn flakes.
- 这碗玉米汤太热了，小心别烫到你的嘴巴。This bowl of corn soup is too hot, be careful not to burn your mouth.
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A street food stall at a night market.
- 佳怡 Jiayi俊杰，你想吃什麼？Jùnjié, nǐ xiǎng chī shénme?Junjie, what do you want to eat?
- 俊杰 Junjie我想吃一份烤玉米。Wǒ xiǎng chī yī fèn kǎo yùmǐ.I want to eat a serving of roasted corn.
- 佳怡 Jiayi好啊，我也想吃。Hǎo a, wǒ yě xiǎng chī.Okay, I want to eat some too.
- 俊杰 Junjie佳怡，我們去排隊吧。Jiāyí, wǒmen qù páiduì ba.Jiayi, let's go wait in line.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
