Chinese word

吃药

Pronunciation

Pinyinchī yào

Meaning

  • verbtake medicine

Example

我感冒了，得去吃药。wǒ gǎn mào le děi qù chī yào

I have a cold, so I have to go take medicine.

Illustration for 吃药 (take medicine)

More examples

饭后吃药比较安全。fàn hòu chī yào bǐ jiào ān quán

Taking medicine after meals is relatively safer.

Core concept

Taking a medicinal substance by mouth so it can work inside the body.

Common phrases

  • 别忘了吃药bié wàng le chī yào

    remember to take medicine

  • 饭后吃药fàn hòu chī yào

    take medicine after eating

  • 不要随便吃药bú yào suí biàn chī yào

    don't take medicine without advice

Similar words

服药fú yào: Taking medicine by mouth as part of medical treatment, with a formal tone.
服用fú yòng: Taking medicine orally in formal written language.
吞服tūn fú: Swallowing medicine to get it into the body.

Definition in Chinese

用嘴服用药物以治疗疾病或缓解症状，通常指口服剂型的药物。yòng zuǐ fú yòng yào wù yǐ zhì liáo jí bìng huò huán jiě zhèng zhuàng tōng cháng zhǐ kǒu fú jì xíng de yào wù

Word origin

吃 (chī, "eat") + 药 (yào, "medicine") uses the everyday verb for consuming food to describe taking medicine orally.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, this expression covers pills, capsules, and liquid doses, but not an injection or intravenous treatment.

Word lists with this word