bēi zi
cup; glass; mug
我有一个杯子。
wǒ yǒu yī gè bēizi.
I have a cup.
杯子里有水。
bēizi lǐ yǒu shuǐ.
There is water in the cup.
桌子上有一只杯子。
Zhuōzi shàng yǒu yī zhī bēizi.
There is a cup on the table.
茶杯 (chá bēi)
tea cup
水杯 (shuǐ bēi)
water cup
马克杯 (mǎ kè bēi)
mug
碗 (wǎn)
bowl
盘子 (pánzi)
plate
Track your progress, master characters, and achieve your Chinese language goals.
Get Started Free
The Chinese word 杯子 (bēizi) for "cup" is composed of two characters: 杯 (bēi) and 子 (zi). The character 杯 originally meant "a container for drinking" and was used as early as the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE). It is composed of the radical 皿 (mǐn), which indicates a vessel, and the phonetic component 杯 (bēi). The character 子 (zi) is a common suffix used to form nouns and can be translated as "son", "child", or "offspring". In the case of 杯子, it is used to indicate a small or diminutive cup, similar to the English suffix "-let". Therefore, the word 杯子 literally means "a small cup" or "a cup for drinking".
