Phrases for Everyday Life Part Two: Sitting down to eat in Japanese

Introduction

Welcome to your second cultural/words/phrases/not sure what to call it exactly lesson! This time, we'll cover the two most important phrases when eating in Japan. You want to eat in Japan one day, right? I mean, just think of all the delicious ramen...

Let's... EAT!

If you want to have good manners in Japanese (which I assume you do), you'll need to correctly use two important phrases: one before eating, and one after you eat.

Before you eat, you should say:

"Let's eat" is a very approximate translation, as this phrase technically is a very humble way to say "receive", meaning that it literally means something closer to "I humbly receive this meal". But really, most people don't say it with such gravitas, so "Let's eat" or "Thank you for the meal" are the best approximations available!

It's also customary to put both hands together (but not clap) while you say this phrase, which is pretty fun. Try it out!

I'm stuffed!

Once you've devoured that ramen, it's time to have good manners again! This may seem a bit strange if you're a native English speaker, as we tend not to say much following a meal other than "That was yummy" or "I'm sure glad I saved space for dessert!"

Anyways, after you finish eating, it's polite to say:

Which can be shortened to ごちそうさま if you don't need to be super polite. (You'll learn why one is more polite than the other during your first few lessons in the Elementary section.)

If you break this phrase down, there's a lot going on. ご is a prefix that attaches to things when we want to be polite, and ちそう is an old term that used to mean running around (it uses the kanji for "gallop" and "run") and has come to mean "delicious food" in modern times. If you wanted to, you could extend this phrase's literal translation to "I appreciate you running around (in order to put together this delicious meal for me)".

So basically, say this after you finish eating! You can say this at home, and if you're out at a restaurant, it's good manners to say it to the staff or cook/chef if they're around.

I know that once more, I've provided you with phrases that are long and filled with all sorts of hiragana, but take your time with them and maybe even practice saying them before and after each meal!

Summary

• 

  Say 「いただきます」 ("Let's eat!") before you eat.

• 

  Say 「ごちそうさまでした」 ("Thank you for the meal") after you finish eating. This can be shortened to 「ごちそうさま」 in casual situations.