Word
食材 在 冰箱 里。shícái zài bīngxiāng lǐ.
Meaning
The ingredients are in the fridge.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of shícái zài bīngxiāng lǐ.
在zài
to be at
里lǐ
inside
冰箱bīngxiāng
refrigerator
食材shícái
food ingredients
Questions & Answers about shícái zài bīngxiāng lǐ.
Why is there no word for is/are in this sentence?
In Mandarin, 在 often does the job that is/are in/at/on does in English when you are talking about location.
So:
食材在冰箱里。
literally follows the pattern:
thing + 在 + place
That is enough to mean The ingredients are in the fridge.
You do not need a separate verb like 是 here. In fact, 是 is generally not used for location in this kind of sentence.
- Correct: 食材在冰箱里。
- Not natural: 食材是冰箱里。
What does 食材 mean exactly?
食材 means food ingredients or cooking ingredients.
It usually refers to ingredients used to prepare a meal, such as vegetables, meat, tofu, mushrooms, and so on.
It is a bit more specific than:
- 食物 = food
- 东西 = things/stuff
- 材料 = materials
So if you mean ingredients for cooking, 食材 is a very good word.
What is 在 doing here?