食堂
HSK 4 (exam 2025)HSK 4 (2021)
食堂 (shítáng) · dining hall
食堂 (shítáng) means “dining hall; canteen”. It is written with 2 characters: 食 (food) + 堂 (hall). It is an HSK 4 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 食堂 is built
The characters
食 shí · food
What 食 is made of
- 人rén — person
- 良liáng — good
- 丶 — dot
- 艮gěn — blunt
Origin hint: A dish of food 良 with a lid on top 人 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
堂 táng · hall
What 堂 is made of
- 尚shàng — still
- ⺌ — structural part
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 十 — ten
Origin hint: 土 gives the meaning, 尚 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
我们中午在食堂吃饭。Wǒmen zhōngwǔ zài shítáng chī fàn.We eat lunch in the cafeteria.
学校的食堂好吃吗？Xuéxiào de shítáng hǎochī ma?Is the school cafeteria food good?
Questions about 食堂
What does 食堂 mean?
食堂 (shítáng) means “dining hall; canteen”.
How do you pronounce 食堂?
食堂 is pronounced shítáng.
Which HSK level is 食堂?
食堂 is in HSK 4 (exam 2025) and HSK 4 (2021).
Related words
- 食物shíwùfood
- 美食měishídelicious food
- 食品shípǐnfood
- 粮食liángshigrain
- 零食língshísnack
- 废寝忘食fèiqǐnwàngshíto forget food and sleep
- 素食sùshívegetarian food
- 饮食yǐnshídiet
- 课堂kètángclassroom
- 天堂tiāntángheaven
Learn 食堂 with its group
It is part of HSK 4 (2021) · Group 43: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.