美味しい食べ物
oishii tabemono
The Japanese phrase for "delicious food" is 美味しい食べ物 (oishii tabemono).
美味しい食べ物 is used to describe food that has a pleasant and enjoyable taste. In natural conversation, Japanese speakers often drop the word for food and simply say 美味しい to mean "it is delicious".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the adjective 美味しい (delicious) and the noun 食べ物 (food).
Which one should you use?
While 美味しい食べ物 means "delicious food", you can use the shorter 美味しい to mean "it is delicious" in natural conversation. Additionally, うまい食べ物 can be used to describe delicious food in a more casual, masculine-coded way.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For a more casual and colloquial way to say "delicious", you can use うまい. There is also a playful and casual variant of oishii written as おいひー.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express that the food "was" delicious in a polite way, you can add でした to the end of the phrase, resulting in 美味しい食べ物でした.
How do you pronounce it?
oishii tabemono
When do people say it?
After eating a delicious meal, it is common to use the phrase ごちそうさまでした to express gratitude for the meal.
Did you know?
- The term 美味しい is often used as a metaphor in business to describe a 'lucrative' or 'easy' deal, similar to the English expression 'sweet deal'.
- Japanese has a specific word 旨味 (umami) to describe a fifth basic taste, which is the savory 'deliciousness' found in foods like kelp and soy sauce.
- If you are describing delicious food in a very formal or high-class setting, such as a tea ceremony, you might use the term 美味 (bimi) instead of the more common 美味しい.
Examples in context
- この料理はおいしいですね。This dish is delicious, isn't it?
- このラーメン、めちゃくちゃうまい！This ramen is incredibly delicious!
- この海鮮丼はうまかもんやなぁ！This seafood bowl is truly delicious!
- 美味しい食べ物を探しています。Oishii tabemono o sagashite imasu.I am looking for delicious food.
- 美味しい食べ物はたくさんあります。Oishii tabemono wa takusan arimasu.There is a lot of delicious food.
- この街には美味しい食べ物が少ないです。Kono machi ni wa oishii tabemono ga sukunai desu.There is little delicious food in this town.
Example conversation
Misaki and Yota are talking about a new restaurant.
- 美咲 Misakiこの店は美味しい食べ物が多いですよ。Kono mise wa oishii tabemono ga ooi desu yo.This restaurant has a lot of delicious food.
- 陽太 Yota本当ですか。楽しみです。Hontou desu ka. Tanoshimi desu.Really? I'm looking forward to it.
- 美咲 Misaki特にデザートがおすすめです。Tokuni dezāto ga osusume desu.I especially recommend the desserts.
- 陽太 Yotaぜひ注文しましょう。Zehi chuumon shimashou.Let's definitely order some.
