hot3 caa4喝茶
Jyutpinghot3 caa4
Yalehot chàh
Definition
To drink tea; to go to a restaurant for dim sum.
- to drink tea
- to go to a restaurant to eat dim sum
colloquialdim sumfood
How it's used
While literally meaning to drink tea, this phrase is the standard way to refer to the cultural practice of going out for dim sum. It is rarely used to describe the simple act of drinking a cup of tea at home, for which people would usually specify the type of tea or just say 飲杯茶. When someone invites you to 飲茶, they are almost certainly proposing a meal at a restaurant rather than just a beverage.
Related words
Common phrases
go for dim sum
a pot of tea and two dim sum dishes
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin usage where it strictly refers to the beverage. If you tell a Hong Konger you want to 飲茶, they will expect to go to a restaurant to eat dumplings and buns, not just sit down with a cup of tea.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
