牛奶咖啡

niúnǎi kāfēi
noun

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 café au lait
  2. 2 milk coffee
  3. 3 (also used loosely for latte / white coffee)

Examples

Wǒ zǎoshang zhǐ hē yì bēi niúnǎi kāfēi.
I only have one cup of milk coffee in the morning.
Zhèjiā kāfēiguǎn de niúnǎi kāfēi yòngfǎ shì chōng pào.
This café's milk coffee is brewed French-style.

Tips

register
In everyday Chinese 牛奶咖啡 is a catch-all term for any coffee-with-milk drink, mapping most naturally to French café au lait. Actual Italian espresso-based drinks have stricter names: 拿铁 latte, 卡布奇诺 cappuccino, 玛奇朵 macchiato. If someone at a specialty shop asks for 牛奶咖啡, expect them to accept a latte or a drip + steamed milk.

Stroke Order

niú
nǎi
fēi