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Mom: Tonight we’re having eel with rice! 😋

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Mom: Nui (affectionate term for daughter, meaning sweetheart), you will definitely love this Fufuland matcha ice cream with soufflé 🍦

Mom: Let’s eat it when you come back to HK😘

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Mom: Have you had lunch yet

Me: I ate

Mom: I saw on Instagram 😘

Mom: Have you gotten off work yet?

Mom: Go take a rest～

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Mom: Eat what? (Casually asking what I ate)

Me: River snail noodles

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Mom: If you don’t have time to buy menstrual pads during lunch, ask your female colleague to lend you some 😘

Mom: Have you eaten lunch yet, are you still sleepy?

Me: Better

Me: I bought menstrual pads

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Mom: Baba and Mama (affectionate term for dad and mom) are ready to eat 😋

Mom: What are you eating?

Me: Leftover fried rice

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Mom: Baba and Mama are full now, have you eaten lunch yet?

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Mom: Baba and Mama are full now, have you eaten yet?

Mom: Are you still at school

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Mom: Tonight we’re having Genki sushi 🍣 (restaurant in HK), what are you eating!

Me: Leftover pasta with veggies and ham, with ice cream too. 😋

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Mom: Did you eat, did you manage to sleep?

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Mom: That restaurant is at Wan Chai Road, but the shop is very small, have you eaten yet?

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Mom: Me and Baba are eating curry with pork cartilage and rice, have you eaten yet?

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Mom: You’re by yourself, are you going to eat out or cook?

Me: Going to Busaba

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Eat Your Words: Food Typography | CBC Short Film by Eric Sanderson

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"Have you eaten (rice) yet?" --> a ubiquitous phrase used all over Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and many Asian countries

Rice is a staple food in Asian countries

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Have You Eaten Rice Today? | Food or Feud | Shanghai Noir

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Have you eaten rice today is a greeting used all over East Asia. Rice is the center of the Asian kitchen and a weapon in wartime.

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"When Chinese people greet each other, they like to ask about the things that other side is doing, just did or is going to do."

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As an informal greeting, Chinese people like to use "chī le ma?" -- which means "have you eaten yet?" Foreigners who don't understand this kind of custom might regard this as an invitation to have a meal together.

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A common manner and protocol in daily Chinese life:

“Whoever you visit, you should ask them if they have eaten or not……if they are about to eat, don’t enter the house until after they finish the meal. Otherwise, you would be intruding.”

— Lü Convention 《吕氏乡约》written by the Lü brothers in Northern Song Dynasty (960 – 1127 A.D.)

--> one should avoid visiting people’s homes when they are having a meal. To ask “have you eaten?” is a act of consideration and care.

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When you start learning Chinese, it's likely that you've been told that the Chinese phrase 'Have you eaten?' (你吃了吗? chī le ma?) is a common Chinese greeting.
You've likely been told that the reason Chinese people used "吃了吗?" as a greeting was mainly because food is the most important thing. However, after a bit of research, I found the origins of 吃了吗 to be much more interesting.

In Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127 A.D.), a book called Lü Convention 《吕氏乡约》written by the Lü brothers in Lantian, Shaanxi was popular among the village people in the nation. As it was a book of etiquette in China, it introduced common manners and protocols in daily Chinese life, including proper Chinese greetings. Among them, one rule reads:

"凡往见人，入门必问主人食否......度无所妨，乃命展剌。有妨则少俟。"

"Whoever you visit, you should ask them if they have eaten or not......if they are about to eat, don't enter the house until after they finish the meal. Otherwise, you would be intruding.""

- The Lü Brothers

In other words, one should avoid visiting people's homes when they are having a meal. To ask "have you eaten?" would be the most considerate thing to do for a Chinese person.

Eventually, this Chinese phrase caught on and became a daily Chinese greeting. By asking "吃了吗？", you are showing that you care about the other person and it would be easy to start a conversation. However, as you may have noticed, it is not used as often anymore. If you are ever asked "吃了吗", just a simple "吃了chī le (I have)" or "没吃 (méi chī, I have not)" would do for an answer.

That's how to use the Chinese phrase 'Have you eaten?' 你吃了吗? See our YouTube channel for Chinese listening practice stories, for instance, this one about eating. Click here for more greetings in Chinese.

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About the Chinese phrase "Have you eaten? 你吃了吗?" - GoEast Mandarin

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Read our explaination on this typical Chinese greeting phrase, 'Have you eaten? 你吃了吗?'. Learn how to use as a Chinese language learner.

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