The banquet menu

The lesson’s vocabulary

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• 餐厅
  cāntīng

  dining hall; dining room; restaurant

• 确认
  quèrèn

  to confirm; to verify; confirmation

• 菜单
  càidān

  menu

• 不然
  bùrán

  not so; no; or else

• 订
  dìng

  to agree; to conclude; to draw up

• 好不容易
  hǎobùróngyì

  with great difficulty; very difficult

• 好容易
  hǎoróngyì

  (idiomatic usage) with great difficulty

• 提前
  tíqián

  to shift to an earlier date; to do sth ahead of time

• 抢
  qiǎng

  to fight over; to rush; to scramble

• 失望
  shīwàng

  disappointed; to lose hope; to despair

• 味道
  wèidào

  flavor; taste; (fig.) feeling (of ...)

• 清淡
  qīngdàn

  light (of food, not greasy or strongly flavored); insipid

• 海鲜
  hǎixiān

  seafood

• 挑剔
  tiāoti

  picky; fussy

• 讲究
  jiǎngjiu

  to pay particular attention to

• 咸
  xián

  salted; salty; stingy

• 淡
  dàn

  insipid; diluted; weak

• 受不了
  shòubuliǎo

  unbearable; unable to endure; can't stand

• 口味
  kǒuwèi

  a person's preferences; tastes (in food); flavor

• 牙
  yá

  tooth; ivory

• 软
  ruǎn

  soft; flexible

• 厨师
  chúshī

  cook; chef

• 葡萄
  pútao

  grape

• 蛋糕
  dàngāo

  cake

• 惊喜
  jīngxǐ

  nice surprise; to be pleasantly surprised

• 浓
  nóng

  concentrated; dense; strong (smell etc)

• 临时
  línshí

  as the time draws near; at the last moment; temporary

• 主角
  zhǔjué

  leading role; lead; protagonist

• 来得及
  láidejí

  to have enough time; can do it in time

• 押金
  yājīn

  deposit; down payment

• 餐
  cān

  classifier for meals; meal; to eat

• 串
  chuàn

  to string together; to skewer; to connect wrongly

• 滴
  dī

  to drip; to let drip; to apply (eye drops etc)

• 副
  fù

  classifier for pairs, sets of things & facial expressions

• 股
  gǔ

  classifier for long winding things like ropes, rivers etc

• 集
  jí

  collected works; to gather; to collect

• 杯
  bēi

  classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup

The lesson’s grammar

• 一餐饭, 一串葡萄, 一滴水…: new measure words, and 一大杯茶

  Num + 餐 / 串 / 滴 / 副 / 股 / 集 / 枝 + N ｜ Num + 大 / 小 / 长 + 杯 / 碗 / 串 + N

• 不怎么 / 不怎么样: not very, nothing special

  S + 不怎么 + Adj / V ｜ N + 不怎么样

• 好(不)容易: with great difficulty, finally

  S + 好不容易 / 好容易 + (才) + V

• 这也不X，那也不Y: refusing everything, nothing is right

  这 + 也不 + V1，那 + 也不 + V2，(结果…)

• 可谓: one may well say, truly

  S + 可谓 + assessment (often a 成语)