bữa trưa
[ʔɓɨə˦ˀ˥ t͡ɕɨə˧˧]word by word
In Vietnamese, lunch is expressed as bữa trưa. Wiktionary also lists bữa ăn trưa.
Meaning: meal around midday (noun)
Ways to say it
| Vietnamese | IPA |
|---|---|
| bữa trưa | [ʔɓɨə˦ˀ˥ t͡ɕɨə˧˧] (Hà Nội, word by word, narrow) |
| bữa ăn trưa | [ʔɓɨə˦ˀ˥ ʔan˧˧ t͡ɕɨə˧˧] (Hà Nội, word by word, narrow) |
The term refers to the meal eaten around midday. While bữa trưa is the standard noun, you may also use the verb phrase ăn trưa to describe the act of eating lunch. In social situations, when inviting someone or stating your intention to head out for the meal, speakers often use đi ăn trưa, which means to go eat lunch.
What does it mean word for word?
bữa trưa is composed of bữa, meaning a meal or session and trưa, meaning midday or noon.
Which one should you use?
bữa trưa is the common way to say lunch, whereas bữa ăn trưa is a more explicit or formal way to refer to the lunch meal.
Related words
Did you know?
- In Vietnamese, the concept of 'lunch' is often inseparable from the concept of 'rice', so a person might ask if you have 'eaten rice' to ask if you have had lunch.
- In Vietnam, the bữa trưa is traditionally the most important meal of the day for workers, often featuring a midday nap immediately after eating to survive the heat.
- The word for eating, ăn, is used in many Vietnamese idioms to describe the consumption of things other than food, such as 'eating' a bribe or 'eating' a loss.
Examples in context
- Bữa trưa được chưa?Is lunch ready?This is useful for asking if the bữa trưa is ready.Tatoeba #13640315 by leucammieuvu, translation #2953005 by CK
- Tôi làm bữa trưa mỗi ngàyI make lunch every day.This shows how to use bữa trưa when describing a daily habit.Tatoeba #12560393 by thanhcona40, translation #1879 by Swift
- Cô ấy không ăn gì cho bữa trưa.She ate nothing for lunch.This demonstrates the use of bữa trưa when discussing what was or was not eaten.Tatoeba #10273023 by Alex_do, translation #2356190 by Hybrid
- Tôi sẽ ăn trưa ở nhà hàng.I will have lunch at the restaurant.
- Anh/chị đã ăn trưa chưa?Have you had lunch yet?
- Bữa trưa hôm nay tôi sẽ đến gặp ông bà.I will come to visit my grandparents for lunch today.
- Chúng tôi đi cùng nhau ăn trưa hàng ngày.We go for lunch together every day.
- Anh ấy đưa tôi đi ăn trưa ở quán cơm gần đây.He takes me for lunch at a nearby rice stall.
- 10 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two colleagues are talking about their plans for the day.
- HùngHương, bạn muốn ăn gì cho bữa trưa?Huong, what do you want to eat for lunch?
- HươngTôi muốn ăn phở cho bữa trưa.I want to eat pho for lunch.
- HùngChúng ta đi ăn lúc mười hai giờ nhé.Let's go eat at twelve o'clock.
- HươngĐược, hẹn gặp Hùng lúc đó.Okay, see you then, Hung.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “lunch” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (bữa, trưa, ăn) and can differ in connected speech.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
