HSK 2 · Pronouns

服务员 fúwùyuán “waiter” in Chinese

Traditional 服務員

What 服务员 means

  1. waiter
  2. waitress
  3. attendant
  4. customer service personnel

Measure word 个 gè or 位 wèi · 一个服务员 yí ge fúwùyuán

How to say 服务员

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale服fú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale务wù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale员yuán2nd tone, rising

服务员 in a sentence

  1. 服务员，请给我们菜单。

    Fúwùyuán, qǐng gěi wǒmen càidān.

    Waiter, could we have the menu, please?

    Sentence #11837290 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我需要一位服务员帮助我点餐。

    Wǒ xūyào yí wèi fúwùyuán bāngzhù wǒ diǎncān.

    I need a waiter to help me order.

    Sentence #11837294 from Tatoeba

  3. 那家饭馆儿的服务员给我们留下很好的印象。

    Nà jiā fànguǎnr de fúwùyuán gěi wǒmen liúxia hěn hǎo de yìnxiàng.

    The waiters at that restaurant made a very good impression on us.

    Sentence #801939 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 服务员 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 服 (fú) with each of its parts in a different colour
服fúclothes
  • 月moon · yuè
  • 卩seal · jié
  • 又again · yòu
The character 务 (wù) with each of its parts in a different colour
务wùaffair
  • 夂go · zhǐ
  • 力strength · lì

Memory aidPicture setting off 夂 with all your strength 力: to work at a task.

The character 员 (yuán) with each of its parts in a different colour
员yuánperson engaged in a certain field
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 贝sea shell · bèiMeaning part

How to write 服务员

服 8 strokes · 务 5 strokes · 员 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

服务员 (fúwùyuán) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 服务员 (fúwùyuán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 服务员

Words with 服

衣服yīfu · clothes舒服shūfu · comfortable服务fúwù · to serve服装fúzhuāng · dress说服shuōfú · to persuade克服kèfú · to overcome (difficulties)佩服pèifú · to admire制服zhìfú · uniform服从fúcóng · to obey屈服qūfú · to yield

Words with 务

服务fúwù · to serve任务rènwu · mission家务jiāwù · household duties业务yèwù · business商务shāngwù · business义务yìwù · duty公务gōngwù · official business事务shìwù · affairs职务zhíwù · post财务cáiwù · financial affairs

Words with 员

员yuán · (suffix) member运动员yùndòngyuán · athlete演员yǎnyuán · actor or actress售货员shòuhuòyuán · salesperson人员rényuán · staff员工yuángōng · employee裁员cáiyuán · to cut staff委员wěiyuán · committee member成员chéngyuán · member动员dòngyuán · to mobilise

More words: People, Body & Health

这些zhèxiē · these那个nàge · that one这个zhège · this one看病kànbìng · to visit a doctor男nán · male女nǚ · female妻子qīzi · wife哥哥gēge · older brother

FAQs

服务员 (fúwùyuán) means “waiter” or “waitress”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it fúwùyuán: fú with a 2nd tone, then wù with a 4th tone, then yuán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 服务员 is written 服務員. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 个 (gè) or 位 (wèi). For example, one waiter is 一个服务员 (yí ge fúwùyuán).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fuwuyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 服务员 from the suggestions. Typing fuwuyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
服务员 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.