sik6 tong4食堂
Jyutpingsik6 tong4
Yalesihk tòhng
Definition
Canteen; mess hall; a dining hall serving meals to a large number of people within an institution.
neutralfoodplaces
How it's used
食堂 carries a functional, institutional feel, often implying a place where meals are subsidized or provided for a specific group like students or workers. It is less common to use this word for a casual, commercial restaurant, where 餐廳 or 食肆 would be more appropriate. In many modern Hong Kong office buildings or universities, people might also simply use the English loanword canteen instead.
Measure word
gaan1間gānExamples
The food at the university canteen is very cheap.
Which canteen are you going to for lunch today?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often use 食堂 to refer to any place that sells food, but it specifically implies a communal or institutional setting. Calling a regular public restaurant a 食堂 sounds like you are describing a military mess hall or a factory cafeteria.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
