晚餐
wǎncān
The English phrase "dinner" is translated into Chinese as 晚餐 (wǎncān) or 晚饭. Wiktionary also lists 晚飯 / 晚饭 (wǎnfàn).
Meaning: evening meal (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 晚餐 | wǎncān |
| 晚飯 / 晚饭 | wǎnfàn |
Both terms refer to an evening meal. When expressing the act of having dinner, you typically use the verb 吃 (to eat) with 晚饭, as in 吃晚饭.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 晚饭 consists of 晚 (evening) and 饭 (meal/cooked rice).
Which one should you use?
晚饭 is more colloquial and common in daily spoken conversation, whereas 晚餐 is more formal and often used in written contexts or menus.
How do you pronounce it?
wǎncān
Did you know?
- In many parts of China, rather than asking 'Have you eaten dinner?', people use the phrase 吃了吗? (chī le ma?), which literally means 'Have you eaten?'
- The word 饭 (fàn) is used in many compound words to describe people's livelihoods, such as 饭碗 (fànwǎn), which literally means 'rice bowl' but refers to one's job.
- In many Chinese households, the dinner table is a place for 'social hierarchy' where the seating arrangement is strictly determined by seniority and status.
Examples in context
- 我准备晚餐。I'm making dinner.This sentence is useful for saying you are preparing 晚餐.Tatoeba #1424176 by sadhen, translation #2248103 by CK
- 我們在吃晚餐。We are having dinner.This sentence is useful for saying you are currently having 晚餐.Tatoeba #3984800 by tsayng, translation #880536 by CC
- 昨天的晚餐是鱼。Yesterday's dinner was fish.This sentence is useful for describing what the 晚餐 was.Tatoeba #12686386 by soueihin, translation #6884653 by tripbeetle
- 今晚我们一起去吃晚饭吧。Let's have dinner together tonight.
- 昨晚我吃了一顿丰盛的晚餐。Last night I had a delicious dinner.
- 43 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Zihan and Haoran are discussing their plans for the evening.
- 梓涵 Zihan浩然，你想吃什么晚餐？Hào rán, nǐ xiǎng chī shén me wǎn cān?Haoran, what do you want for dinner?
- 浩然 Haoran我想在餐厅吃晚餐。Wǒ xiǎng zài cān tīng chī wǎn cān.I want to have dinner at a restaurant.
- 梓涵 Zihan好，那我们六点见。Hǎo, nà wǒ men liù diǎn jiàn.Okay, then we'll meet at six.
- 浩然 Haoran没问题，到时候见。Méi wèn tí, dào shí hòu jiàn.No problem, see you then.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “dinner” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
