How to Say ‘Have you had dinner?’ in Simplified Chinese
吃晚饭了吗？
chī wǎn fàn le ma
[chir wǎnfàn le ma]
🇨🇳 In China: Asking whether someone has eaten is a classic Chinese way of showing you care. Between partners it's an everyday check-in, much like asking "how are you".
Phrase Breakdown
吃
chī
[chir]
to eat
A basic everyday verb meaning to eat. It is often used alone or in phrases like 吃饭.
孩子们已经在吃晚饭了。
The children are already eating dinner.
晚饭
wǎn fàn
[wǎnfàn]
dinner
The main meal of the evening.
我正在准备晚饭。
I am preparing dinner.
了
le
[le]
change-of-state particle
Used with 快…了 to show something is about to happen.
火车快来了。
The train is about to arrive.
吗
ma
[ma]
question particle
A sentence-final particle used to turn a statement into a yes-no question.
你是第一次来吗？这里的“吗”表示提问。
Is this your first time here? Here, 吗 marks a question.
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