Meaning of 食堂
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- dining hall; cafeteria
Measure word: 個|个,間|间
How to use 食堂
食堂 usually means a cafeteria run by a school, factory, or workplace for its own people, not a public restaurant. You often hear 学校食堂 (xuéxiào shítáng) or 员工食堂 (yuángōng shítáng). Example: 我们中午去食堂吃饭吧。(Wǒmen zhōngwǔ qù shítáng chīfàn ba.) Let's go eat at the cafeteria at noon.
食 (shí) means food or eating, and 堂 (táng) means a hall, the same 堂 you see in 课堂 (kètáng) classroom. Put them together and you get a food hall, the place where a school or company feeds everyone.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 食堂 for any restaurant, but a regular restaurant is 饭馆 (fànguǎn) or 餐厅 (cāntīng). Also watch the tones: both syllables are second tone, shí táng, so do not drop 食 to a fourth tone like shì.
食堂 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
食 shí · food · 9 strokes
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堂 táng · hall · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 食堂.
| 食物 | shíwù | food |
| 课堂 | kètáng | classroom (CL:間|间[jian1]); class session |
| 食品 | shípǐn | foodstuff; food; provisions |
| 美食 | měishí | culinary delicacy; fine food |
| 粮食 | liángshi | foodstuff; cereals |
| 零食 | língshí | snack; nibbles |
| 饮食 | yǐnshí | eating and drinking; food and drink; diet |
| 教堂 | jiàotáng | church; chapel |
| 天堂 | tiāntáng | paradise; heaven |
| 食欲 | shíyù | appetite |
| 礼堂 | lǐtáng | assembly hall; auditorium |
| 食用 | shíyòng | to eat; to consume; edible |
Questions about 食堂
What does 食堂 mean?
食堂 (shítáng) means "dining hall; cafeteria" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 食堂?
食堂 is made of 2 characters: 食 (9 strokes), 堂 (11 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 食堂 an HSK word?
Yes. 食堂 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 食堂 and 餐厅?
食堂 is a canteen for a specific group, like students or employees, and is usually cheap and simple. 餐厅 (cāntīng) is a general word for a restaurant or dining room open to customers.
What measure word goes with 食堂?
The common measure word is 个 (gè), as in 一个食堂 (yí ge shítáng). Universities often number them, for example 第一食堂 (dì yī shítáng), the No. 1 cafeteria.