喝 (hē) — to drink | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

喝 (hē) is a simple transitive verb: "to drink." It pairs with a liquid object — 喝水 (drink water), 喝茶 (drink tea), 喝咖啡 (drink coffee), 喝酒 (drink alcohol) — and takes complements to say how the drinking turned out: 喝完 (finish), 喝光 (drain), 喝醉 (get drunk). It is one of the first verbs a learner meets, and the grammar is easy. The real work is knowing which verb a substance takes, because Chinese does not sort food and drink by whether it is liquid — it sorts them by the customary action. That's why soup is 喝汤 but medicine is 吃药, even though you swallow both.

Sense 1: drink (liquids)

The basic pattern is 喝 + liquid. Water, tea, coffee, milk, juice, soda — anything you take in through the mouth in liquid form.

你想喝点儿什么？茶还是咖啡？

nǐ xiǎng hē diǎnr shénme? chá háishi kāfēi

What would you like to drink? Tea or coffee?

多喝热水，感冒很快就好了。

duō hē rè shuǐ, gǎnmào hěn kuài jiù hǎo le

Drink more hot water — your cold will get better soon.

💡

「多喝热水」("drink more hot water") is the stock, almost clichéd piece of care/advice in Chinese — offered for colds, cramps, stress, anything. Learners hear it constantly; recognizing it is half of understanding Chinese small talk about health.

喝酒 by itself often implies drinking alcohol, and a whole cluster of expressions grows from it: 喝一杯 (have a drink), 喝多了 (had too much), 喝醉 (get drunk).

我不喝酒，给我倒杯果汁吧。

wǒ bù hē jiǔ, gěi wǒ dào bēi guǒzhī ba

I don't drink — pour me a glass of juice instead.

下班以后一起去喝一杯吧。

xiàbān yǐhòu yìqǐ qù hē yì bēi ba

Let's go grab a drink after work.

别让他开车，他已经喝醉了。

bié ràng tā kāichē, tā yǐjīng hēzuì le

Don't let him drive — he's already drunk.

Sense 3: 喝 takes result complements

Like most action verbs, 喝 combines with a resultative to name the outcome: 喝完 (finish drinking), 喝光 (drink dry), 喝醉 (drink to drunkenness), 喝多了 (drink too much).

这瓶牛奶快过期了，今天喝完吧。

zhè píng niúnǎi kuài guòqī le, jīntiān hē wán ba

This milk is about to expire — let's finish it today.

昨天晚上他喝多了，话特别多。

zuótiān wǎnshang tā hē duō le, huà tèbié duō

He had too much to drink last night — he wouldn't stop talking.

The 吃 / 喝 boundary

Here is the point that trips up English speakers. Chinese assigns the verb by the customary way of consuming, not by texture:

soup → 喝汤 (you drink soup, never 吃汤)
medicine → 吃药 (you take/"eat" medicine — pills and liquid syrup)
porridge / congee → 喝粥 (thin) but 吃粥 is also heard when it's thick

趁热喝汤，凉了就不好喝了。

chèn rè hē tāng, liáng le jiù bù hǎohē le

Drink the soup while it's hot — it won't taste good once it's cold.

记得饭后吃药，别忘了。

jìde fàn hòu chī yào, bié wàng le

Remember to take your medicine after eating — don't forget.

Key collocations

Phrase	Pinyin	Meaning
喝水	hē shuǐ	drink water
喝茶	hē chá	drink tea
喝咖啡	hē kāfēi	drink coffee
喝酒	hē jiǔ	drink alcohol
喝汤	hē tāng	drink (eat) soup
喝一杯	hē yì bēi	have a drink
喝醉	hēzuì	get drunk
喝多了	hē duō le	drank too much
喝完 / 喝光	hē wán / hē guāng	finish / drain

Grammar notes

喝 is a plain transitive verb: it takes 了, 过, and complements with no surprises, and you can invite someone with 请你喝茶 "let me treat you to tea." Its natural partner is 吃 (chī) "eat" — the two split the eating/drinking field between them, and the boundary is lexical, so learn each food with its verb rather than reasoning from texture. To say you like drinking something, stack it under 喜欢 (xǐhuan): 我喜欢喝绿茶.

Common Mistakes

1. Pairing 喝 with medicine. Medicine — pills and liquids alike — takes 吃.

❌ 每天早上要喝两片药。

Incorrect — medicine takes 吃, not 喝: 吃药.

✅ 每天早上要吃两片药。

měitiān zǎoshang yào chī liǎng piàn yào

You need to take two pills every morning.

2. "Eating" soup. Soup is drunk.

❌ 我最喜欢吃这个汤。

Incorrect — soup takes 喝: 喝汤.

✅ 我最喜欢喝这个汤。

wǒ zuì xǐhuan hē zhège tāng

This is my favorite soup.

3. "Drinking" a cigarette. English "have a smoke" has no drink verb; smoking is 抽 / 吸.

❌ 他在外面喝烟。

Incorrect — you smoke, not drink, a cigarette: 抽烟 / 吸烟.

✅ 他在外面抽烟。

tā zài wàimiàn chōu yān

He's smoking outside.

4. Using 有 for English "have a drink." English "have" is vague; Chinese must pick the action verb 喝.

❌ 累了，我们有一杯咖啡吧。

Incorrect — 'have a coffee' is 喝, not 有 ('possess').

✅ 累了，我们喝一杯咖啡吧。

lèi le, wǒmen hē yì bēi kāfēi ba

I'm tired — let's have a cup of coffee.

Key Takeaways

喝 (hē) "drink" is a plain transitive verb: 喝 + liquid (喝水, 喝茶, 喝酒).
喝酒 leans toward alcohol; the social cluster is 喝一杯, 喝多了, 喝醉.
Chinese sorts food by the customary action, not texture: 喝汤 (soup) but 吃药 (medicine); cigarettes are 抽/吸, never 喝.
English "have" is not a verb here — you must choose 喝 (drink) or 吃 (eat).

Now practice Chinese

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Chinese→