Chinese word

早餐

Pronunciation

Pinyinzǎo cān

Meaning

  • nounbreakfast

Example

你吃过早餐吗？nǐ chī guò zǎo cān ma

Have you had breakfast?

Illustration for 早餐 (breakfast)

More examples

我每天七点吃早餐。wǒ měi tiān qī diǎn chī zǎo cān

I have breakfast at seven every day.

Core concept

A meal set aside for the early part of the day, soon after waking.

Common phrases

  • 吃早餐chī zǎo cān

    have breakfast

  • 做早餐zuò zǎo cān

    prepare breakfast

  • 买早餐mǎi zǎo cān

    buy breakfast

Similar words

早饭zǎo fàn: The common conversational term for a morning meal.
早点záo diǎn: Small or light foods eaten as a morning meal.

Definition in Chinese

早晨吃的第一餐，通常在起床后至上午较早时间食用。zǎo chén chī de dì yì cān tōng cháng zài qǐ chuáng hòu zhì shàng wǔ jiào zǎo shí jiān shí yòng

Word origin

The compound 早 (zǎo, "early") + 餐 (cān, "meal") names a meal by the early time when it is eaten.

Usage tips

  • A hotel booking may include 早餐 (zǎocān, "breakfast"), so the word often appears when morning food is part of a stay.

Opposites

Related words

  • 早餐店zǎo cān diànbreakfast shopnoun
  • 早餐时间zǎo cān shí jiānbreakfast timenoun

Word lists with this word