Learn how to say, "I am a vegetarian"
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| Taiwanese Mandarin Survival Phrases Lesson 22: I Am a Vegetarian |
| In this lesson, we’ll talk about being a vegetarian and learn the word for vegetarian. |
| In Chinese, the word for "vegetarian" is 素食主義者(sùshí zhǔyì zhě). |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 素(sù) is in fourth tone, falling tone. |
| 食(shí) is in second tone, rising tone. |
| 主(zhǔ) is in third tone, falling-rising tone. |
| 義(yì) is in fourth tone, the falling tone. |
| 者(zhě) is in third tone, falling-rising tone. |
| Let’s break it down by meaning: |
| 素(sù) means "vegetarian." |
| 食(shí) means "food." |
| 素(sù) means "element" or "component." |
| 主義(zhǔyì) means "doctrine or -ism" like “communism” or “capitalism,” or in this case, "vegetarianism.” |
| If you want to say you are a vegetarian, you can say, 我吃素(Wǒ chī sù), which means "I eat as a vegetarian.” |
| Alternatively, you can say 我不吃肉(Wǒ bù chī ròu), which means, “I don’t eat meat.” |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 我(wǒ) third tone, falling-rising tone. |
| 不(bù) fourth tone, the falling tone. |
| 吃(chī) first tone, the flat tone. |
| 肉(ròu) fourth tone, the falling tone. |
| Let’s break it down by meaning: |
| 我(wǒ) means "I." |
| 不(bù) means "no." |
| 吃(chī) means "to eat." |
| 肉(ròu) means "meat." |
| Literally this means "I no eat meat", or more accurately, "I don’t eat meat.” |
| At a restaurant, you can ask, "Could you make this without meat?" In Chinese, this is 可以不放肉嗎(Kěyǐ bùfàng ròu ma)? |
| Let’s break it down by tone: |
| 可(kě) is in third tone. |
| 以(yǐ) is in third tone. |
| 不(bú) is in second tone |
| 放 (fàng) is in fourth tone. |
| 肉(ròu) fourth tone, the falling tone. |
| 嗎(ma) which has no tone. |
| Remember that 不(bù) is usually in fourth tone, but because it comes before 放(fàng) which is also in fourth tone, it becomes second, rising tone. |
| Let’s break it down by meaning: |
| 可以(ké yǐ) literally means “can” or “may” and is used when asking for permission. |
| 不(bù) means "no." |
| 放(fàng) means "to put" or "to place." |
| 肉(ròu) means "meat." |
| 嗎(ma) makes a statement into a question. |
| When translated to English, this means “Could you make this without meat?" |
| Altogether, we have 可以不放肉嗎(Kéyǐ búfàng ròu ma)? |
| Listen again, one more time, slowly: |
| [Slow] 可以不放肉嗎(Kéyǐ búfàng ròu ma)? |
| [Normal] 可以不放肉嗎(Kéyǐ búfàng ròu ma)? |
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