A tiny person soaks in a steaming cup of coffee as if it were a hot tub, legs hanging over the rim. What a cozy way to 洗澡.
洗澡 (xǐzǎo) means “to take a bath” or “to shower.” 洗 is to wash and 澡 means bath; 澡 rarely appears on its own.
洗澡 is a verb plus its object, so words can go in between: 洗个澡 (xǐ ge zǎo), take a bath.
我先去洗澡。 — Wǒ xiān qù xǐzǎo. — I’ll go take a bath first.
你每天晚上洗澡吗？ — Nǐ měitiān wǎnshang xǐzǎo ma? — Do you shower every evening?
It is 3 a.m.: the pen is stirring the coffee, and the hand over the notebook is writing with a spoon. That is too much 工作.
工作 (gōngzuò) means “work” or “job,” and also “to work.” 工 is labor and 作 means to do.
To ask someone’s job, say 你做什么工作？ (Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?). To look for a job is 找工作 (zhǎo gōngzuò).
我在一家银行工作。 — Wǒ zài yì jiā yínháng gōngzuò. — I work at a bank.
他工作到凌晨三点。 — Tā gōngzuò dào língchén sān diǎn. — He worked until 3 a.m.
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A steaming mug with a spoon in it sits beside two coffee beans. The name sounds almost like the English word: 咖啡.
咖啡 (kāfēi) means “coffee.” It is a sound loan, written with two characters that both contain 口, the mouth radical.
A cup of coffee is 一杯咖啡 (yì bēi kāfēi). A café is 咖啡馆 (kāfēiguǎn).
我每天早上喝咖啡。 — Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang hē kāfēi. — I drink coffee every morning.
来一杯咖啡，谢谢。 — Lái yì bēi kāfēi, xièxie. — A cup of coffee, please.
