咖啡

kāfēi

noun HSK 3 #746

Measure Word

一杯咖啡 bēi

Meanings

1 coffee

Characters

phonetic character (no independent meaning)

phonetic character (no independent meaning)

Pure phonetic transliteration of 'coffee.' Both characters were created specifically for this loanword.

Examples

我每天早上喝咖啡。

Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang hē kāfēi.

I drink coffee every morning.

你想喝什么咖啡？

Nǐ xiǎng hē shénme kāfēi?

What kind of coffee would you like?

这杯咖啡太苦了。

Zhè bēi kāfēi tài kǔ le.

This coffee is too bitter.

Tips

history

咖啡 is a phonetic transliteration of the English word 'coffee.' The characters 咖 and 啡 have no independent meaning — they exist only for this loanword.

culture

Coffee culture has exploded in China. Luckin Coffee (瑞幸咖啡) overtook Starbucks in China by number of stores in 2023.

Stroke Order

咖 kā

啡 fēi