wǎn cān
dîner; souper
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我晚上要吃晚餐。
wǒ wǎnshàng yào chī wǎncān.
I will have dinner in the evening.
我们一起吃晚餐吧。
wǒmen yīqǐ chī wǎncān ba.
Let's have dinner together.
晚餐吃什么？
wǎncān chī shénme?
What's for dinner?
晚饭 (wǎnfàn)
dinner
夜宵 (yèxiāo)
supper
早餐 (zǎocān)
breakfast
午餐 (wǔcān)
lunch
The Chinese word for dinner, 晚餐 (wǎncān), is a compound of two characters: 晚 (wǎn), meaning "late", and 餐 (cān), meaning "meal". The character 晚 is composed of two parts: 日 (rì), meaning "sun", and 暮 (mù), meaning "dusk". This suggests that the character 晚 originally referred to the time of day when the sun sets, and by extension, to the evening. The character 餐 is composed of two parts: 食 (shí), meaning "to eat", and 饣 (cān), meaning "food". This suggests that the character 餐 originally referred to the act of eating, and by extension, to a meal. Thus, the compound word 晚餐 literally means "late meal", and is used to refer to the evening meal.
