菜单 The Menu in Chinese

中午zhōngwǔ，我wǒ和hé朋友péngyou走zǒu进jìn饭馆fànguǎn，服务员fúwùyuán给gěi了le我们wǒmen一yì张zhāng菜单càidān。

At noon, my friend and I walked into a restaurant, and the server gave us a menu.

我wǒ看看kànkan菜单càidān，问wèn服务员fúwùyuán：“你们nǐmen有yǒu什么shénme菜cài？”

I took a look at the menu, and asked the server: "What dishes do you have?"

服务员fúwùyuán说shuō：“我们wǒmen有yǒu鱼yú，还hái有yǒu羊肉yángròu。”

The server said: "We have fish, and also lamb."

我wǒ想xiǎng点diǎn鱼yú，但是dànshì服务员fúwùyuán说shuō羊肉yángròu更gèng好吃hǎochī。

I wanted to order fish, but the server said the lamb was even better.

朋友péngyou也yě说shuō：“就jiù点diǎn羊肉yángròu吧ba！”

My friend also said: "Let's just order the lamb!"

我们wǒmen就jiù点diǎn了le羊肉yángròu和hé米饭mǐfàn。

So we ordered lamb and rice.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

菜单càidānmenu

看看kànkanto take a look

什么shénmewhat

但是dànshìbut

更gèngeven more

张zhāng(measure word for flat objects)

看看 + noun（take a look at...）

看看, a doubled verb, means to take a quick look at something.

我看看菜单。— I take a look at the menu.

有什么 + noun？（asking what there is）

有什么 followed by a noun asks what kinds of something are available.

你们有什么菜？— What dishes do you have?

A 更 + adj（A is more..., used to persuade）

更 before an adjective can recommend one option over another by saying it's even more so.

羊肉更好吃。— The lamb is even more delicious.

1. What does the server give the two friends?

2. What does the narrator first want to order?

3. What do they end up ordering?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.