喝茶
hē chá
To drink tea in Chinese is 喝茶 (hē chá).
The phrase 喝茶 is used both literally to describe consuming the beverage and figuratively to describe a social activity or a casual meeting. If you want to emphasize the sensory experience and convey a more refined and elegant sentiment, you might use 享受茶香, which means to enjoy the fragrance of tea. To make an invitation or a suggestion, you can add the particle 吧 to create 喝茶吧 (let's drink tea / how about having some tea?) or use 来杯茶 (let's have a cup of tea) to suggest sharing a relaxing moment. When offering a drink to someone, it is common to say 喝点茶, which means to drink a bit of tea.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 喝茶 is composed of the verb 喝 (hē), meaning 'to drink' and the noun 茶 (chá), meaning 'tea'.
How does it change in a sentence?
To indicate the completed action of drinking tea, the particle 了 (le) is often inserted after the verb: 喝了茶.
How do you pronounce it?
hē chá
Did you know?
- In certain professional or legal contexts, the phrase 喝茶 can be a euphemism for being summoned by the police for questioning.
- To show gratitude after someone pours tea for you, it is traditional to lightly tap two fingers on the table, a silent 'thank you' that accompanies 喝茶.
- The Chinese word 茶 is the ancestor of the English word 'tea', as well as the Hindi 'chai' and Persian 'chay', depending on how the tea was traded.
Examples in context
- 我经常喝茶。I often drink tea.This sentence is useful for describing a frequent habit using 喝茶.Tatoeba #3378025 by GlossaMatik, translation #3378026 by CM
- 你昨天喝茶了吗？Did you drink tea yesterday?This sentence uses 喝茶 to ask about a past action.Tatoeba #5965709 by verdastelo9604, translation #3157608 by CK
- 让我们喝茶吃巧克力吧！Let's drink tea and eat chocolate!This sentence uses 喝茶 in an invitation to combine tea with food.Tatoeba #9958900 by GlossaMatik, translation #2690419 by dipdowel
- 8 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are relaxing in a living room.
- 志强 Zhiqiang我们要不要喝茶？Wǒmen yào bù yào hē chá?Do you want to drink tea?
- 梓涵 Zihan好啊，我也想喝茶。Hǎo a, wǒ yě xiǎng hē chá.Sure, I want to drink tea too.
- 志强 Zhiqiang你想喝绿茶还是红茶？Nǐ xiǎng hē lǜchá háishì hóngchá?Do you want to drink green tea or black tea?
- 梓涵 Zihan给我一杯绿茶吧。Gěi wǒ yī bēi lǜchá ba.Give me a cup of green tea.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
