ăn cơm
[ʔan˧˧ kəːm˧˧]
To eat rice in Vietnamese is ăn cơm.
While ăn cơm can literally mean to eat rice, it is used idiomatically to mean 'to have a meal'. This phrase is used even if the meal consists of foods like noodles or bread instead of rice. If you want to specify that you are eating a different type of food, you should use ăn followed by the name of that food, such as ăn phở.
When do people say it?
Because rice is the staple food in Vietnam, ăn cơm is the standard way to refer to the act of eating a main meal.
Did you know?
- The Vietnamese word for cooked rice cơm is part of a wider linguistic pattern where 'rice' means 'meal' in Thai kâao, Khmer baay, Chinese fàn, Korean bap and Japanese gohan.
- In a Vietnamese household, asking someone if they have ăn cơm yet is a common way to show care or friendliness, similar to asking 'how are you?' in English.
- While ăn cơm refers to a meal, the word ăn is used in many other expressions to mean 'consuming' or 'absorbing', such as when a road 'eats' a car or a machine 'eats' electricity.
Examples in context
- Tôi đáng lẽ phải ăn cơm.I should eat rice.This sentence is useful for expressing an obligation or something that should have happened using ăn cơm.Tatoeba #13901207 by leucammieuvu, translation #13063124 by tatemame97
- Tôi thường ăn cơm bằng đũa.I usually eat rice with chopsticks.This sentence shows how to describe using a tool like chopsticks while performing the action of ăn cơm.Tatoeba #13381895 by leucammieuvu, translation #953687 by CK
- Bạn có ăn cơm hằng ngày không?Do you eat rice every day?This sentence is useful for asking a question about a daily habit involving ăn cơm.Tatoeba #13726801 by leucammieuvu, translation #4049106 by CK
- Xin hỏi, anh/chị đã ăn cơm chưa?May I ask if you've eaten rice, sir/madam?
- Chị đã ăn cơm chưa?Have you eaten rice yet, sister?
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are chatting in the afternoon.
- TuấnLan ơi, bạn ăn cơm chưa?Lan, have you eaten yet?
- LanTôi chưa ăn cơm nữa.I haven't eaten yet.
- TuấnChúng ta cùng đi ăn cơm nhé!Let's go have a meal together!
- LanĐược, tôi đi với Tuấn.Okay, I will go with Tuan.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ăn cơm, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cơm, ăn, ăn cơm, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
