主食

主食 zhǔshí

Staple food

zhushi

What 主食 means

  1. Staple food

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 主食 will read it the same way this page does.

Recognise a piece of 主食 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.

Character by character

主食 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

主
zhǔ
Lord (master - host - owner - primary - idea - take charge - favor)
食
shí
Food (animal feed - eat)

How to write 主食

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 主食 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

Sounds the same as 主食

These are also written zhushi without tone marks. Tones and context are what keep them apart — which is why the tone is part of the word, not an accent on it.

Train the difference in the Tone Trainer or the Similar Sounds Quiz.

Questions about 主食

What does 主食 mean in English?

主食 is pronounced zhǔshí and means Staple food.

How do you pronounce 主食?

主食 is zhǔshí in pinyin — written zhushi without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 主食?

主食 is written with 2 characters: 主 (zhǔ) Lord (master - host - owner - primary - idea - take charge - favor), 食 (shí) Food (animal feed - eat). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

Keep going

Translate a whole sentence containing 主食 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

Browse the dictionary

Every word on this site links to its entry — tap any word in a graded reader, a translation result or an HSK list to land on a page like this one.

Dictionary index