点外卖 Ordering Delivery in Chinese

晚上wǎnshang我wǒ不想bùxiǎng做饭zuòfàn，就jiù用yòng手机shǒujī点diǎn了le一个yí ge外卖wàimài。

In the evening I didn't feel like cooking, so I used my phone to order delivery.

我wǒ点diǎn了le一个yí ge菜cài和hé一yì碗wǎn米饭mǐfàn，一共yígòng二十èrshí块kuài钱qián。

I ordered a dish and a bowl of rice, twenty kuai in total.

送sòng外卖wàimài的de人rén给gěi我wǒ打电话dǎ diànhuà，说shuō：“我wǒ到dào楼下lóuxià了le。”

The delivery person called me and said: "I'm downstairs."

我wǒ马上mǎshàng到dào楼下lóuxià，拿ná了le外卖wàimài，跟gēn他tā说shuō了le谢谢xièxiè。

I hurried downstairs, took the delivery, and said thanks to him.

回到huídào家jiā，外卖wàimài还是háishi热rè的de，菜cài很hěn好吃hǎochī，米饭mǐfàn也yě不错búcuò。

Back home, the food was still hot — the dish was delicious, and the rice was good too.

这样zhèyàng点diǎn外卖wàimài，比bǐ自己zìjǐ做饭zuòfàn快kuài多duō了le。

Ordering delivery like this is much faster than cooking myself.

可是kěshì妈妈māma说shuō，外卖wàimài没有méiyǒu家里jiā lǐ做zuò的de好hǎo。

My mom, though, says delivery is never as good as what you cook at home.

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

Key words 生词

外卖wàimàifood delivery

做饭zuòfànto cook

一共yígòngin total

楼下lóuxiàdownstairs

好吃hǎochīdelicious

不错búcuòpretty good

点外卖 (to order delivery)

点 means 'to order' and 外卖 means 'takeout/delivery food' — together, 点外卖 is the everyday phrase for ordering food to be delivered.

我用手机点了一个外卖。— I used my phone to order delivery.

比 + A + adj + 多了 (much more ... than A)

比 A + adjective + 多了 compares two things, saying one is much more so than the other.

点外卖比自己做饭快多了。— Ordering delivery is much faster than cooking myself.

还是 + adj + 的 (still ...)

还是 before an adjective, with 的 at the end, says something remains in that state.

外卖还是热的。— The food was still hot.

1. Why did the narrator order delivery?

2. How did the delivery person let the narrator know they'd arrived?

3. How was the food when it arrived?

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.