晚飯 / 晚饭
maan⁵ faan⁶
In Cantonese, "dinner" is expressed as 晚飯 / 晚饭 (maan⁵ faan⁶).
The term 晚飯 / 晚饭 is the standard way to refer to an evening meal. You can express the action of eating dinner by using the verb 食 (to eat) before the noun, such as in 食晚飯 / 食晚饭. In more casual settings, you might hear the phrase 食飯 to mean having dinner or the informal expression 食晚餐.
Meaning: evening meal (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 晚飯 / 晚饭 is composed of 晚 (maan5), meaning "late" or "evening" and 飯 (faan6), meaning "meal" or "rice".
Which one should you use?
晚飯 / 晚饭 is the standard term for the evening meal, whereas 晚餐 is a more formal version used in written communication, formal contexts or on formal menus.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the action of having dinner, the verb 食 (to eat) is commonly placed before the noun.
How do you pronounce it?
maan⁵ faan⁶
Did you know?
- The term 食飯 is sometimes used euphemistically in slang to refer to one's livelihood or 'earning a living' because the meal represents survival.
- In traditional Cantonese households, the order of who starts eating 晚飯 is strictly governed by age, with the eldest person usually taking the first bite.
- In Cantonese, asking 食咗飯未? (Have you eaten yet?) is often used as a general greeting similar to 'How are you?' rather than a literal question about hunger.
Examples in context
- 我想出去食晚飯I want to go out for dinner.
- 今晚我請你食晚餐Tonight, I invite you to have dinner.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “dinner” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
