Learn Hardcore Chinese: Wǎnfàn wǒmen chángcháng chī cài, yú hé shuǐguǒ, bǐrú píngguǒ. - For dinner we often eat dishes, fish, and fruit, such as apples.

晚饭Wǎnfàn　我们wǒmen　常常chángcháng　吃chī　菜cài、　鱼yú　和hé　水果shuǐguǒ，　比如bǐrú　苹果píngguǒ。Wǎnfàn wǒmen chángcháng chī cài, yú hé shuǐguǒ, bǐrú píngguǒ.

For dinner we often eat dishes, fish, and fruit, such as apples.

Breakdown of Wǎnfàn wǒmen chángcháng chī cài, yú hé shuǐguǒ, bǐrú píngguǒ.

常常chángchángchángcháng

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Questions & Answers about Wǎnfàn wǒmen chángcháng chī cài, yú hé shuǐguǒ, bǐrú píngguǒ.

Why does the sentence start with 晚饭 instead of 我们? Can I say 我们晚饭常常吃… instead?

In Chinese, it’s very common to put a time word at the beginning of a sentence:

晚饭我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
Literally: Dinner, we often eat vegetables, fish and fruit.

This makes 晚饭 the time setting or topic: “As for dinner…”.

You can also say:

我们晚饭常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
我们常常晚饭吃菜、鱼和水果。 (less natural; you’d more often say: 我们晚饭的时候常常吃… )

All are understandable, but:

[Time] + [Subject] + [Adverb] + [Verb]… (晚饭我们常常吃…)
feels very natural and is a typical Chinese word order.

Do I need to say 在晚饭的时候 instead of just 晚饭 for “at dinner / during dinner”?

You don’t need to. In Chinese, simple time words (今天，明天，晚上，早上，晚饭, etc.) can go directly before the subject:

晚饭我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
= At dinner we often eat vegetables, fish and fruit.

You could also say:

在晚饭的时候，我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果。

This is also correct, but a bit longer and heavier. The short version with just 晚饭 is very natural in everyday speech.

What’s the difference between 常常, 经常, and 常?

They all mean roughly “often”, but there are slight differences in tone and usage:

常常 – very common in spoken Chinese, neutral and natural.
经常 – also very common; sometimes feels a bit more formal or bookish, but is fine in speech.
常 – short and slightly more literary or used in set phrases.

In this sentence you could say:

晚饭我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
晚饭我们经常吃菜、鱼和水果。

Both are good. Using just 常 here (晚饭我们常吃…) is also possible, but sounds a bit more succinct, slightly less casual.

What exactly does 菜 mean here? Vegetables or “dishes”?

菜 (cài) is flexible and can mean:

Vegetables in general
- 我喜欢吃菜，不喜欢吃肉。
  I like eating vegetables, not meat.
Dishes / cooked food (especially side dishes eaten with rice)
- 这家饭馆的菜很好吃。
  The dishes at this restaurant are delicious.

In 晚饭我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果, 菜 most naturally means dishes / cooked food (often vegetable-based dishes). So the sense is:

At dinner we often eat dishes, fish, and fruit.

Not necessarily only raw vegetables.

Why is it 吃菜、鱼和水果 without measure words like 一些菜, 一条鱼, 一些水果?

Chinese doesn’t always require measure words when speaking in general about a type of thing or about food categories:

我不吃肉。 – I don’t eat meat.
他常喝茶。 – He often drinks tea.

In this sentence, we’re talking about kinds of food eaten at dinner; we don’t care about the exact amount:

吃菜、鱼和水果 = eat (the kinds of food: ) vegetables/dishes, fish, and fruit.

If you want to specify quantity, then you use measure words:

吃一条鱼 – eat one (whole) fish
吃一些菜 – eat some dishes/vegetables
吃三种水果 – eat three kinds of fruit

Why is 和 used between 鱼 and 水果? Could I use 跟 instead?

In a simple list like this, 和 (hé) is the standard for “and”:

菜、鱼和水果 – vegetables/dishes, fish and fruit.

You can sometimes use 跟 (gēn) to mean “and”, especially in spoken Chinese, but:

和 is more common in lists of nouns.
跟 is more common in meanings like “with / together with”:
- 我跟他去。– I go with him.

You could say 菜、鱼跟水果 in casual conversation, and people would understand you, but 菜、鱼和水果 is more standard and generally preferred in writing and teaching materials.

What does 比如 do here, and how is it different from saying “for example” in English?

比如 (bǐrú) means “for example / such as” and introduces one or more examples:

我们常常吃水果，比如苹果。
We often eat fruit, for example apples.

Key points:

Structure:
A，比如B = A, for example B.
Here, A = 水果, B = 苹果.
It usually comes in the middle of a sentence, followed by a comma in writing.

You can expand the list:

我们常常吃水果，比如苹果、香蕉和葡萄。
We often eat fruit, for example apples, bananas, and grapes.

Note that you don’t need something like “比如说” here; 比如 alone is fine (比如说 is also used, often in speech, with the same meaning).

Why isn’t there a 了 after 吃? Should it be 吃了菜、鱼和水果 for a completed action?

了 is used to mark completed actions or change of state. In this sentence, we’re talking about a habitual action:

晚饭我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
= At dinner we often eat vegetables, fish and fruit.
(a general habit, not one specific past event)

For general habits, you don’t use 了.

If you talk about a specific past dinner, you might use 了:

昨天晚饭我们吃了菜、鱼和水果。
Yesterday at dinner we ate vegetables, fish and fruit.

So: no 了 for general routine; 了 is appropriate for a specific completed event.

Why doesn’t 苹果 have a measure word like 一个苹果 or 一些苹果?

When you are talking about a type of thing in general, Chinese often drops the measure word:

我喜欢吃苹果。 – I like to eat apples.
他不喝牛奶。 – He doesn’t drink milk.

In 比如苹果, 苹果 means “(for example, we eat) apples” in general, not a particular number.

If you need to specify quantity, you must include a measure word:

吃一个苹果 – eat one apple
买三斤苹果 – buy three jin of apples
吃一些苹果 – eat some apples

But in this sentence, we just mean “for example, apples (as a type of fruit we eat)”, so no measure word is needed.

How do I know if a noun like 水果 or 苹果 is singular or plural? There’s no -s like in English.

Chinese usually doesn’t mark plural for non-human nouns explicitly. The number is understood from context:

我吃苹果。
Could be: I eat apples (in general) or I’m eating apple(s).

In this sentence:

水果 means “fruit / fruits” as a category.
苹果 means “apples” in general.

If you want to be explicit about number, you add a numeral + measure word:

一个苹果 – one apple
两种水果 – two kinds of fruit
很多水果 – a lot of fruit(s)

Otherwise, assume it’s generic and could correspond to English singular or plural depending on context.

Can I omit 我们 or 晚饭 in this sentence? For example, just say 常常吃菜、鱼和水果?

Yes, Chinese often omits information that’s clear from context:

If it’s already obvious who you’re talking about, you can drop 我们:
- (Talking about your family’s habits) 晚饭常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
  At dinner (we) often eat vegetables, fish and fruit.
If it’s already obvious you’re discussing dinner, you can drop 晚饭:
- (Someone asks: “What do you usually eat?”)
  我们常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
In casual speech, if both are clear, you can even say:
- 常常吃菜、鱼和水果。
  (We) often eat vegetables, fish and fruit.

The full form (晚饭我们常常吃…) is good for clarity when the context is not fully established, like in a textbook example.

Why are there two different commas: 、 and ，? What’s the difference?

Chinese uses two relevant punctuation marks here:

顿号 (、) – the listing comma
Used between items in a list:
- 菜、鱼和水果
  vegetables/dishes, fish and fruit
逗号 (，) – the regular comma
Used to separate larger parts of the sentence:
- …吃菜、鱼和水果，比如苹果。
  …eat vegetables/dishes, fish, and fruit, for example apples.

Rough rule:

Use 、 inside a short list of words.
Use ， between clauses or bigger sentence chunks.