Chinese

Verb

吃飯

1. to eat

   他很喜歡吃飯。 / 他很喜欢吃饭。  ―  Tā hěn xǐhuān chīfàn.  ―  He loves to eat.

   你吃飯了嗎？ / 你吃饭了吗？  ―  Nǐ chīfàn le ma?  ―  Have you eaten? (also a greeting)

   你吃過飯嗎？ / 你吃过饭吗？  ―  Nǐ chī guò fàn ma?  ―  Have you eaten? (also a greeting)

   你吃飯了沒有？ / 你吃饭了没有？  ―  Nǐ chīfàn le méiyǒu?  ―  Have you eaten? (also a greeting)

   儂飯吃過了𠲎？ [Shanghainese, trad.]

   侬饭吃过了𠲎？ [Shanghainese, simp.]

   Have you eaten? (also a greeting)

2. to have a meal

   我想約你明天一起去吃飯，不知道你有沒有時間。 [MSC, trad.]

   我想约你明天一起去吃饭，不知道你有没有时间。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ xiǎng yuē nǐ míngtiān yīqǐ qù chīfàn, bù zhīdào nǐ yǒu méiyǒu shíjiān. [Pinyin]

   I'd like to invite you out to have a meal tomorrow, if you have time.

3. (dated) to make a living

   你靠什麼吃飯？ / 你靠什么吃饭？  ―  Nǐ kào shénme chīfàn?  ―  What do you do for a living?

   我現在失業，除了交房租，還要吃飯啊，壓力大啊。 [MSC, trad.]

   我现在失业，除了交房租，还要吃饭啊，压力大啊。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ xiànzài shīyè, chúle jiāo fángzū, hái yào chīfàn a, yālì dà a. [Pinyin]

   I'm out of work at the moment. Apart from paying rent I also have to make a living; it's very stressful.

Usage notes

Chinese use the sentence 你吃飯了嗎？ (Have you eaten?) as a greeting. Its function is equivalent to How’s it going? or How are you? in English.

Synonyms

• (various dialects - Cantonese, Min, etc.) 食飯／食饭
• (Min Nan) 唅飯／唅饭, 含飯／含饭

See also

• 喝 (hē)