吃
to eat
chī
What does 吃 mean?
吃 (chī) is the everyday Chinese verb 'to eat' — used for food and, idiomatically, for many things English speakers wouldn't think of as 'eating.' The literal use is straightforward: 吃饭 (eat a meal), 吃苹果 (eat an apple), 吃药 (take medicine, literally 'eat medicine'). What surprises English speakers is how often 吃 appears in idioms: 吃苦 (eat bitterness = endure hardship), 吃醋 (eat vinegar = be jealous in love), 吃惊 (eat shock = be startled). 吃 is also the default verb for 'have a meal' — 你吃了吗？ ('have you eaten?') is a common casual greeting, especially among older speakers, similar to 'how are you?' in English. Drinks use 喝 (hē) instead of 吃, but soup is 喝汤 (drink soup), not 吃汤 — a common beginner mistake.
Character breakdown
to eat (mouth radical 口 on the left signals it's mouth-related)
Memory hook: The 口 (mouth) on the left tells you it's about the mouth — and 吃 is what the mouth does most.
Example sentences
你吃了吗？
Nǐ chī le ma?
Have you eaten?
spoken
我想吃中国菜。
Wǒ xiǎng chī Zhōngguó cài.
I want to eat Chinese food.
neutral
这个苹果很好吃。
Zhège píngguǒ hěn hǎochī.
This apple is really tasty.
spoken
我们一起去吃饭吧。
Wǒmen yīqǐ qù chī fàn ba.
Let's go eat together.
spoken
Common phrases with 吃
Synonyms
用 in 用餐 (yòng cān) is a formal/polite way to say 'have a meal' — used in restaurants and on signs. In daily conversation, always 吃 / 吃饭.
尝 means 'to taste / try' — a small bite to check the flavor. 吃 is the general eating verb; 尝 emphasizes sampling.
Don't confuse 吃 with
喝 is 'to drink' — used for water, tea, coffee, and crucially soup (喝汤). Beginners often say 吃汤 (eat soup), which is wrong. Liquids drink, solids eat — and soup counts as liquid in Chinese.
吹 ('to blow') looks similar — same 口 radical on the left — but means to blow air. Easy to mix up by sight, never by meaning.