Lesson 17 - Ganbei! - Bottoms up!

你 们 好!
Nǐmen hǎo! Welcome back to learn some more Chinese!

In the previous lessons, we have learned some dining vocabulary in Chinese, and in this lesson we will again stay by the dining table. Let's order some drinks.

Dialog

喝 什 么?
Hē shénme?
What would you like to drink?

我 要 喝 啤 酒.
Wǒ yào hē píjiǔ.
I'd like to drink beer.

喝 白 酒?
Hē báijiǔ?
Do you drink liquor?

谢 谢, 来 一 点 白 酒.
Xièxie, lái yīdiǎn báijiǔ.
Thank you, please bring me some liquor.

干 杯!
Gānbēi!
Bottoms up!

随 意!
Suǐyì!
Cheers! (”as you wish”)

...or like this:

喝 白 酒 吗?
Hē báijiǔ ma ?
Do you drink liquor?

谢 谢, 我 不 爱 喝 白 酒.
Xièxie, wǒ bù ài hē báijiǔ.
Thank you, but I do not drink liquor.

Vocabulary

hē 喝 = to drink (v.)
píjiǔ 啤 酒 = beer (n.)
báijiǔ 白 酒 = liquor, strong alcohol (n.)
aì 爱 = here, in meaning: to be used to, have a habit of (v.), also: love (v. and n.)
gānbēi 干 杯 = bottoms up
suǐyì! 随 意 = cheers, ”as you wish”

What would you like to drink?
In Chinese, we can pose the question ”what would you like to drink?” simply by putting the words ”drink” and ”what” together = Hē shénme? We can also ask the same question in a longer manner: Nǐ /Nín yào hē shénme? ”What would you like to drink?”

When you answer the question, the order is: subject wǒ (+ auxiliary verb yào) + verb hē + object píjiǔ. Yào means ”to want, to intend”. Wǒ yào hē.... = I'd like to drink...

Do you drink strong alcohol? - Hē báijiǔ?
In the above sentence, there is no specific interrogative word. It is often omitted in the spoken language, but just like in English, you can turn the sentence into a question by raising the intonation at the end. Technically speaking the meaning would be the same if you added the interrogative word ma to the end of sentence.

”Thanks, please bring me some” - Xièxie, lái yīdiǎn... In this sentence, we use the verb lái in the meaning ”to bring”. (A more common translation for lái is ”to come”.)

Strong alcohol, báijiǔ is consumed mostly while dining or as a social activity after eating. Báijiǔ literally means ”white alcohol”, and it is usually used to refer to drinks with an alcohol content of at least 35 percent. If you plan to drink baijiu in China, you'd better be aware that once you have emptied your glass, it will be filled over and over again, and you will be invited to take part in a lot of shouts of "ganbei!" Baijiu is traditionally very strong in China, so you just might find yourself getting pretty drunk in no time. So, if you wish to remain in control of your actions, it would be best to learn to decline politely:

”Thank you, I do not (I'm not used to) drink...” = Xièxie, wǒ bù ài hē.

Here the verb ài is used in meaning ”like, have the habit of”. Earlier we learned this word in its genuine meaning of ”love” (lesson 11). You can also omit the verb ài, and simply say: Xièxie, wǒ bù hē... ”Thank you, I do not drink...”

Bottoms up!
When making a toast, the Chinese usually say gānbēi. Literally speaking, it means ”bottoms up”. You can reply by saying gānbēi, but in that case the idea is to really empty the cup.

If you wish to proceed more slowly with your drink, you can say suǐyì instead. It means ”as you wish”- giving you the opportunity to leave some drink in your glass for the next toast.

Pronunciation drills

Next, you can practice ordering drinks or saying "no thanks" to them. Below you see some names of drinks in Chinese, and from the link you can listen to their pronunciation. You should practice using the following phrases in the exercise:

Wǒ yào hē... (I want to drink...)
Wǒ bù yào hē... (I do not want to drink...)

bái pútaojiǔ – white wine (bái = white)
hóng pútaojiǔ – red wine (hóng = red )
xiāngbīnjiǔ - champagne
guǒzhī – juice
shuǐ - water
kělè – cola drink
fēndá - Fanta