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How to Say ‘I'd like a latte.’ in Simplified Chinese

我要一杯拿铁。

wǒ yào yī bēi ná tiě

[wo yaow ee bēi nátiě]

🇨🇳 In China: Ordering with a plain 我要 isn't rude in China. It's exactly how locals order at a counter, and adding "please" isn't expected.

Phrase Breakdown

我要

wǒ yào

I want

我要 (wǒ yào) is a common way to order something. Say wǒ in the dipping third tone and yào in the falling fourth tone.

Example

我要这个。

I want this one.

Words in this phrase

我

wǒ

[wo]

I

The speaker referring to themselves.

Example

我明天有空。

I am free tomorrow.

要

yào

[yaow]

want; need

Commonly used to say what you want to buy, order, or have.

Example

我要一瓶水。

I want a bottle of water.

一杯拿铁。

yī bēi ná tiě

a cup of latte

一杯 (yì bēi) means 'one cup' and 拿铁 (ná tiě) means 'latte'. Here 一 is pronounced yì.

Example

他点了一杯拿铁。

He ordered a latte.

Words in this phrase

一

yī

[ee]

one; a

The number one; in some phrases it means 'a' or 'one whole'.

Example

我们一家来吃晚饭。

Our whole family came for dinner.

杯

bēi

[bēi]

cup; glass (measure word)

Measure word for drinks served in a cup or glass.

Example

两杯咖啡

two cups of coffee

拿铁

ná tiě

[nátiě]

latte

Coffee with steamed milk; a sound loan from Italian 'latte'.

Example

拿铁很好喝。

The latte is tasty.

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