吃饭

• Pinyin: chī fàn
• Hanzi breakdown: 吃 (eat) + 饭 (cooked rice, meal) — to have a meal

Meaning

To eat; to have a meal. A verb-object compound referring to the act of eating a meal.

Literally 'eat rice' but means 'to have a meal' in general, regardless of whether rice is served. A separable verb-object compound: 吃了饭 (ate), 吃点儿饭 (eat a little). The phrase 你吃饭了吗？ is one of the most common everyday greetings in Chinese, equivalent to 'How are you?'.

Examples

1. 你吃饭了吗？ Have you eaten yet?
2. 我们去吃饭吧。 Let's go eat.
3. 他还没吃饭。 He hasn't eaten yet.

Usage Guide

Context: food, greeting, everyday

Tone: warm

Do Say

• 你吃饭了吗？(Have you eaten? — common greeting)
• 该吃饭了。(It's time to eat.)

Don't Say

• 吃饭面条 with a specific food directly after (Say 吃面条 for noodles — don't insert 饭 before another food item)

Origin & History

Compound of 吃 (eat) and 饭 (cooked rice, meal). In Chinese culture, rice is so central to meals that 'eating rice' became synonymous with having a meal.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal