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How to Say ‘I can't drink milk.’ in Traditional Chinese

我不能喝牛奶。

wǒ bù néng hē niú nǎi

[wo boo-nung hē niú nǎi]

🇹🇼 In Taiwan: Staff in Taiwan will usually understand this as a dietary need and suggest 豆漿 "soy milk" or 燕麥奶 "oat milk". For a real allergy, add 我對牛奶過敏 "I'm allergic to milk" so they take care with cross-contact.

Phrase Breakdown

我不能喝

wǒ bù néng hē

I can't drink

Pronounced wǒ bù néng hē.

Example

我不能喝咖啡。

I can't drink coffee.

Words in this phrase

我

wǒ

[wo]

I; me

The first-person pronoun used to talk about yourself.

Example

我想多了解你們公司的制度，所以先自我介紹。

I want to learn more about your company’s system, so I’ll introduce myself first.

不能

bù néng

[boo-nung]

cannot; be unable to

Means not able to do something.

Example

我今天不能去，所以想取消訂位。

I can't go today, so I want to cancel the reservation.

喝

hē

[hē]

to drink

Basic verb for drinking liquids.

Example

我每天早上喝咖啡。

I drink coffee every morning.

牛奶。

niú nǎi

milk

Pronounced niúnǎi, with a 2nd tone followed by a 3rd tone.

Example

我要加牛奶。

I want to add milk.

Words in this phrase

牛奶

niú nǎi

[niú nǎi]

cow's milk

Milk from cows; a general word for dairy milk.

Example

他對牛奶過敏。

He is allergic to milk.

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