🇬🇧🇨🇳 starter - 前菜 : English Lesson

Meaning of "starter" ("前菜"), detailed definition, and a short video lesson below.

A starter is a small amount of food that you eat first, before the main part of your meal. It’s like a little “hello” from the kitchen to wake up your taste buds. Starters are usually light, like a small salad, soup, or a few pieces of something tasty, so you still have room for the big main course that comes next.

Watch and listen to this English flashcard to understand the word in more detail, with an easy example sentence.

Grandma said, “Don’t fill up on the starter,” as I tried to fit twenty bread rolls on my plate.

My brother’s starter was so small that we needed a magnifying glass to find it.

The starter was a tiny bowl of soup that looked like it was made for a very polite hamster.

Dad tried to be fancy and called his starter an “appetizer,” but then he dropped his shrimp in his lap.

The starter was so small that my stomach laughed and said, “Is that all you’ve got?”

At the small table, a woman lifts a starter from the tray, breathes in steam, and tastes a starter with wide eyes. A child across grabs a starter, offers the first bite, then smiles at every starter placed before them. The final starter is gone; both laugh, warm and full.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

Expanding your English vocabulary is one of the best ways to improve your pronunciation, spelling, and confidence in English. Watch the video above to memorize the word, understand its meaning, and see example sentences in action. Discover related words to grow your vocabulary naturally. Add words to your playlist for stress-free, effective learning—anytime, anywhere! Watch, learn, repeat.