Meaning & use
sencha
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A type of Japanese green tea made from leaves that are steamed soon after picking.
Grammar: Uncountable: say 'some sencha' or 'a cup of sencha', not 'a sencha'.
Patterns
- a cup of sencha
- drink sencha
- sencha tea
She poured us each a cup of sencha.
Sencha has a fresh, grassy taste.
This cafe serves hot sencha with lunch.
nouncountable or uncountable
The tea leaves or drink itself, especially when served hot without milk.
Grammar: Can be countable when ordering portions: 'two senchas, please'.
Patterns
- order a sencha
- two senchas
He ordered a sencha and a small cake.
The shop sells loose-leaf sencha by weight.
Common combinations
- sencha tea
- Sencha tea is often served after meals in Japan.
- a cup of sencha
- A cup of sencha goes well with light sweets.
- loose-leaf sencha
- She prefers loose-leaf sencha to tea bags.
- hot sencha
- They brought us hot sencha while we waited.
Synonyms and how they differ
- green tea
- A general term for any unfermented tea; sencha is one specific Japanese kind.
- matcha
- Another Japanese green tea, but matcha is ground into powder and whisked, while sencha is brewed from whole leaves.
Commonly confused: sencha or matcha?
sencha vs matcha
Both are Japanese green teas, but matcha is powdered and sencha is steeped from leaves.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sencha' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Sencha' is an uncountable noun for a kind of green tea, so 'some sencha' fits. The others use it as a countable object or a verb, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sencha”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.