LinguaRice, soup and a baguette
Three dishes carry everyday eating in Vietnam. cơm is cooked rice, and it also names the whole meal built around it. phở is the noodle soup that arrives in a bowl of hot broth. bánh mì is bread – and on the street, a baguette split open and filled.
| Dish | What it is | How you order it |
|---|---|---|
| cơm | steamed rice with something on top | một đĩa cơm |
| phở | noodles in hot broth | một bát phở |
| bánh mì | a filled baguette | một cái bánh mì |
What people drink
cà phê is coffee, usually strong and often over ice. trà is tea, and in many places a glass of weak cold tea (trà đá) is put on your table for free. nước is water – and also the general word for a drink, so juice is nước plus the fruit: nước cam is orange juice.
Mỗi sáng tôi ăn bánh mì và uống cà phê.Every morning I eat bánh mì and drink coffee.
The classifier names the container
You already build the group number + classifier + noun. With food the classifier is usually the container: bát is a bowl in the north (tô in the south), đĩa is a plate, cốc is a glass in the north (ly in the south), and chai is a bottle.
| Classifier | What it holds | With a dish |
|---|---|---|
| bát | a deep bowl of soup or rice | một bát phở |
| đĩa | a flat plate of food | một đĩa cơm |
| cốc | a glass of a drink | một cốc cà phê |
| chai | a bottle | một chai nước |
Tôi uống một chai nước và một cốc trà.I drink a bottle of water and a glass of tea.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cơm | cooked rice | Nhà tôi ăn cơm mỗi tối. My family eats rice every evening. |
| phở | phở noodle soup | Phở là món của người Việt. Phở is a Vietnamese dish. |
| bánh mì | bread; a filled baguette | Tôi mua hai cái bánh mì. I am buying two bánh mì. |
| cà phê | coffee | Cà phê ở Việt Nam rất ngon. Coffee in Vietnam is very good. |
| trà | tea | Ông tôi uống trà mỗi sáng. My grandfather drinks tea every morning. |
| nước | water; a drink | Em uống một cốc nước. I drink a glass of water. |
| bát | bowl (northern word) | Anh Nam ăn một bát phở. Nam eats a bowl of phở. |
| đĩa | plate | Mẹ tôi ăn một đĩa cơm. My mother eats a plate of rice. |
| chai | bottle | Em mua hai chai nước. I am buying two bottles of water. |
| món | dish | Bạn ăn món gì? What dish are you eating? |
| đồ uống | drink | Ở đây có nhiều đồ uống. There are many drinks here. |
| ngon | tasty | Cà phê này không ngon. This coffee is not tasty. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which of these is a drink?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.