Chinese For Dummies (45 page)

Nǐ è ma?
你饿吗
? (
你餓嗎
?) (nee uh mah?) (
Are you hungry?
)

Nǐ hái méi chī wǎnfàn ba.
你还没吃晚饭吧
. (
你還沒吃晚飯吧
.) (nee hi may chir wahn-fahn bah.) (
I bet you haven't had dinner yet.
)

By checking to see whether the other person is hungry first, you display the prized Chinese sensibility of consideration for others, and you give yourself a chance to gracefully get out of announcing that you, in fact, are really the one who's dying for some Chinese food. If you want, you can always come right out and say that you're the one who's hungry by substituting
wǒ
我
(waw) (
I
) for
nǐ
ä½ 
(nee) (
you
).

If you hear the sound
ba
吧
(bah) at the end of a sentence, you can probably interpret it as
I bet,
as in
Nǐ hái méi chī wǎnfàn ba.
in the previous bulletted list, or as
let's,
as in
Wǒmen qù chīfàn ba.
我们去吃饭吧
. (
我們去吃飯吧
.) (waw-men chyew chir-fahn bah.) (
Let's go have dinner.
). One little utterance serves to soften the sound of making a request (or a command).

You can say something like
Nǐ xiān hē jiǔ.
你先喝酒
. (nee shyan huh jyoe.) (
Drink wine first.
), but you sound nicer and friendlier if you say
Nǐ xiān hē jiǔ
ba.
你先喝酒吧
. (nee shyan huh jyoe bah.) (
Better drink some wine first./Why not have some wine first?
)

When an acquaintance invites you over for dinner, he may ask
Nǐ yào chī fàn háishì yào chī miàn?
你要吃饭还是要吃面
? (
你要吃飯還是要吃麵
?) (nee yaow chir fahn hi-shir yaow chir myan) (
Do you want to eat rice or noodles?
) Naturally, your host doesn't just serve you a bowl of rice or noodles; he wants to know what basic staple to prepare before he adds the actual
cài
菜
(tsye) (
the various dishes that go with the rice or noodles
).

The many varieties of
cài
have made China the envy of the culinary world. Centuries of subsistence-level existence have taught the Chinese not to waste one morsel of an animal, mineral, or vegetable when they can use the morsel as food. Chronic shortages of food at various points in Chinese history have lent credence to the saying “Necessity is the mother of invention.” The Chinese say it another way, however: They eat “anything with legs that's not a table and anything with wings that's not an airplane.” Either way, you get the idea.

Sitting down to eat and practicing proper table manners

After you've chosen what staple you want and it actually sits staring you in the face on the table, you probably want to know what utensils to use in order to eat the meal. Don't be shy about asking for a good old fork and knife, even if you're in a Chinese restaurant. The idea that Chinese people all eat with chopsticks is a myth anyway.
Table 8-1
presents a handy list of utensils you need to know how to say at one point or another.

Table 8-1 Utensils

When you receive an invitation to someone's home, always remember to bring a small gift and to toast others before you take a drink yourself during the meal. The Chinese have no problem slurping their soup or belching during or after a meal, by the way, so don't be surprised if you witness both at a perfectly formal gathering. And to remain polite and in good graces, you should always make an attempt to serve someone else before yourself when dining with others; otherwise, you run the risk of appearing rude and self-centered. (Check out
Chapter 21
for a list of other etiquette considerations.)

Don't hesitate to use some of these phrases at the table:

Duō chī yìdiǎr ba!
多吃一点儿吧
! (
多吃一點兒吧
!) (dwaw chir ee-dyar bah!) (
Have some more!
)

Gānbēi!
干杯
! (
幹杯
!)
(gahn-bay!) (
Bottoms up!
)

Màn chī
or
màn màn chī!
慢吃
or
慢慢吃
!
(mahn chir!
or
mahn mahn chir!) (
Bon appetite!
) This phrase literally means
Eat slowly.,
but it's loosely translated as
Take your time and enjoy your food.