土豆
tǔdòu
The English word potato is translated into Chinese as 土豆 (tǔdòu). Wiktionary also lists 馬鈴薯 / 马铃薯 (mǎlíngshǔ) and 洋芋 (yángyù).
Meaning: plant tuber eaten as starchy vegetable (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 土豆 | tǔdòu |
| 馬鈴薯 / 马铃薯 | mǎlíngshǔ |
| 洋芋 | yángyù |
| 山藥蛋 / 山药蛋 | shānyaodàn |
| 地蛋 | |
| 洋山芋 | yángshānyù |
| 土豆兒 / 土豆儿 | tǔdòur |
The term refers to the starchy plant tuber eaten as a vegetable.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 土豆 literally means 'earth bean' or 'soil bean'.
Which one should you use?
土豆 is the most common, colloquial way to say potato in mainland China, whereas 马铃薯 is the formal, botanical term used in textbooks or official contexts.
Is it said differently in some regions?
土豆儿 is a colloquial way of saying potato used in northern China.
How do you pronounce it?
tǔdòu
Did you know?
- The word 土豆 is believed to be a phono-semantic match for the French name 'Trudeau'.
- The word 洋 in some terms for potato, such as 洋芋, literally means 'foreign' or 'Western', marking the plant as an import.
Examples in context
- 你能给我土豆泥吗？Could you pass me the mashed potato?This sentence shows how to ask for mashed potato using 土豆.Tatoeba #9955927 by GlossaMatik, translation #10816705 by sundown
- 他的鼻子看起来像土豆。His nose looks like a potato.This sentence uses 土豆 to describe something resembling a potato.Tatoeba #1788118 by sadhen, translation #7779309 by sharris123
- 在盤子裏有一塊雞肉、一個土豆和一些豌豆。On the plate there is a piece of chicken, a potato and some peas.This sentence uses 土豆 to list items on a plate.Tatoeba #6940191 by xjjAstrus, translation #7834030 by sharris123
- 我们今天晚上要做土豆泥。We are going to make mashed potatoes tonight.
- 这是一袋新鲜的马铃薯。This is a bag of fresh potatoes.
- 今天晚餐我需要些土豆来做沙拉。I need some potatoes to make salad for dinner tonight.
- 能给我讲一下土豆的烹饪方法吗？Can you tell me about potato cooking methods?
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Rain Ting and Jun Jie are shopping for groceries at a market.
- 雨婷 Yuting俊杰，我们要买土豆吗？Jùnjié, wǒmen yào mǎi tǔdòu ma?Jun Jie, do we need to buy potatoes?
- 俊杰 Junjie好的，我们需要买两个土豆。Hǎo de, wǒmen xūyào mǎi liǎng gè tǔdòu.Okay, we need to buy two potatoes.
- 雨婷 Yuting这些土豆看起来很新鲜。Zhèxiē tǔdòu kàn qǐlái hěn xīnxiān.These potatoes look very fresh.
- 俊杰 Junjie没错，我们就拿这些吧。Méi cuò, wǒmen jiù ná zhèxiē ba.That's right, let's take these.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “potato” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 土豆, 馬鈴薯, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
