ખાવું
khāvũ/ˈkʰɑ.ʋũ/
The Gujarati word for "eat", as in eating a meal, is ખાવું (khāvũ).
ખાવું is the standard verb for eating food.
Meaning: eat a meal (verb)
Which one should you use?
જમી લેવું, is a more polite or formal way to refer to having a meal.
How does it change in a sentence?
ખાવું is the infinitive, meaning "to eat". With the subject હું, meaning "I", the present form is ખાઉં, romanized khāũ. The future form for he, she or it is ખાશે, romanized khāśe.
How do you pronounce it?
It is pronounced /ˈkʰɑ.ʋũ/, romanized khāvũ. It has two syllables with the stress on the first.
Did you know?
- Gujarati speakers often use the word ખાવું in idioms to describe eating a 'scolding' or 'beating' from a parent or teacher, rather than actual food.
- In Gujarati culture, it is common to ask તમે જમી લીધું? ('Have you eaten?') as a general greeting, similar to how an English speaker might say 'How are you?'
- Traditional Gujarati meals are often served on a થાળી (thali), a large platter that organizes various dishes to ensure a balance of six different tastes, including sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent.
Examples in context
- હું માંસ ખાતો નથી.I do not eat meat.Here ખાતો નથી means "do not eat".
Example conversation
Hardik and Drishti are deciding on lunch.
- હાર્દિક Hardikદ્રષ્ટિ, આપણે હવે ખાવું જોઈએ.Drishti, āpaṇe have khāvu joie.Drishti, we should eat now.
- દ્રષ્ટિ Drishtiહા, મને બહુ ભૂખ લાગી છે.Hā, mane bahu bhūkh lāgī che.Yes, I am very hungry.
- હાર્દિક Hardikતમારે શું ખાવું છે?Tamāre shu khāvu che?What do you want to eat?
- દ્રષ્ટિ Drishtiમને દાળ-ભાત ખાવું છે.Mane dāḷ-bhāt khāvu che.I want to eat dal-rice.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ખાવું, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
