How to Say ‘What are you having for lunch?’ in Simplified Chinese
中午吃什么？
zhōng wǔ chī shén me
[zhōngwǔ chī shénme]
💬 Usage Tip: Question words like 什么 stay right where the answer would go, so the answer just replaces it: 中午吃面 "eating noodles at lunch".
🇨🇳 In China: Asking what someone's eating for lunch is a standard friendly opener among Chinese coworkers, much like chatting about the weather elsewhere.
Phrase Breakdown
中午
zhōng wǔ
[zhōngwǔ]
noon; midday
The middle of the day, around 11 to 1 o'clock.
我们中午吃饭。
We eat at noon.
吃
chī
[chī]
to eat
Basic verb for eating food.
我们去吃火锅吧。
Let's go eat hotpot.
什么
shén me
[shénme]
what
Question word asking about things.
你想吃什么？
What do you want to eat?
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