(chī fàn) - to eat (a meal) in Mandarin
chīfànTraditional: 吃饭
Translation
to eat (a meal)
Word origin
The word 吃饭 combines 吃 'to eat' with 饭 'cooked rice, meal', so literally 'to eat rice' and by extension to have a meal. 吃 is 口 (mouth) + 乞 (phonetic); 饭 is 飠/食 (food radical) + 反 (fǎn) phonetic.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 吃 (chī, to eat: 口 mouth + 乞 phonetic) + 饭 (fàn, cooked rice: 食 food + 反 phonetic)
Stroke order
吃
饭
Examples
。
Let's go and have a meal together.
?
Have you eaten?
。
It is meal time.
。
Come to my home for dinner tonight.
。
Wash your hands before eating.
吃饭 (chī fàn) means to eat a meal.
Used in
Grammar articles
(14)Mandarin Aspect Markers: 了, 在/正在, 过 - the System That Replaces Tense
The Mandarin 把 (bǎ) Construction: Fronting the Object to Say What You Did To It
Mandarin Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
Mandarin Co-verbs: 从, 到, 在, 用, 坐, 给 - the Prepositions That Look Like Verbs
Mandarin Verb Conjugation: Why It Doesn't Exist and What Replaces It
Mandarin Conjunctions: 虽然…但是, 因为…所以, 如果…就 and the Paired Structures That Join Clauses
Duration Complements in Mandarin (时量补语): How to Say How Long an Action Lasts
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
The Two 了 in Mandarin: Completion 了 After the Verb vs Change-of-State 了 at the End
Mandarin Location and Existence: 在 for Where, 有 for There Is, and the 上/下/里/外 Position Words
Mandarin Modal Verbs: 会, 想, 要, 应该, 可以, 能 and the Future-Intent Words 打算, 准备
Serial Verb Constructions in Mandarin: 我去商店买东西 and Stacking Verbs in Sequence
Mandarin Verb-Object Verbs: Why 'To Eat' Is 吃饭 and How It Splits Apart
Mandarin Word Order: SVO, Topic-Comment, and the 把 Construction That Reorders Everything
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 18.