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食べる
taberu
eat
私は毎日朝ごはんを食べます。
I eat breakfast every morning.
neutral
To put food into one's mouth and chew and swallow it.
彼はリンゴを食べた。
He ate an apple.
犬に餌を食べさせる。
Feed the dog.
Can be used with or without an object (e.g., 何も食べない 'I won't eat anything').
neutral
To consume food as part of a meal or habitually.
このレストランはおいしい料理を食べさせてくれる。
This restaurant serves delicious food.
Often used in contexts like restaurants or reviews.
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Polite vs. Casual Forms
Use 食べます (tabemasu) in formal settings or with strangers. Use 食べる (taberu) or 食べない (tabenai) in casual speech with friends or family.
Gold Rule
Object Omission
In questions like 何食べる？ (Nani taberu?), the object 'what' is often omitted in casual speech but implied.
Word Origin
From Old Japanese *taberu, possibly related to *tabi 'to eat' (attested in Old Japanese texts) and further to Proto-Japonic *tapi. The kanji 食 is a pictogram of a mouth (口) with food (亼) entering it.
Usage Notes
The verb is transitive but can omit the object in casual speech (e.g., 何食べる？ 'What will you eat?'). In formal contexts, the object is usually included. The polite form is 食べます.
Word Breakdown
食
to eat
rootべ
verb ending
suffixる
present tense marker
suffix和英辞典