How to Say ‘What did you eat?’ in Japanese
何を食べましたか。
nani o tabe mashi ta ka
[na-ni oh tah-BEH mah-shee tah kah]
💬 Usage Tip: 何 is read (nani) here because を follows it. Before sounds like です, it becomes (nan): 何ですか (nan desu ka).
Phrase Breakdown
何を
nani o
what (object)
何 (nani) means 'what', and を (o) marks the object. Say it smoothly: nani o.
何を飲みますか。
What will you drink?
Words in this phrase
何
nani
[na-ni]
what
Used to ask for information about something.
何が欲しい？
What do you want?
を
o
[oh]
object marker
The particle を marks the direct object of a verb.
チケットを二枚ください。
Two tickets, please.
食べましたか。
tabe mashi ta ka
did you eat?
The polite past-tense question of 食べる (taberu, 'to eat'). The 'i' in 'shi' is nearly silent: 'tabemash'ta ka'.
朝ごはんを食べましたか。
Did you eat breakfast?
Words in this phrase
食べ
tabe
[tah-BEH]
eat (stem)
Stem of taberu 'to eat', used before polite endings.
一緒に食べましょう。
Let's eat together.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite past stem
Part of the polite past ending in a verb phrase.
昨日は多くのことを学びました。
I learned many things yesterday.
た
ta
[tah]
past tense ending
This ending completes the polite past tense form.
空席がございまし た。
There were vacant seats.
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
Placed at the end of a sentence to make it a question.
A席はありますか。
Are there A seats available?
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