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N5Lesson notes · Oct 5, 2026

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in Japanese: 朝あさご飯はん, 昼ひるご飯はん, 晩ばんご飯はん and More

Breakfast, lunch and dinner in Japanese are 朝あさご飯はん (あさごはん), 昼ひるご飯はん (ひるごはん) and 晩ばんご飯はん (ばんごはん), also said 夕ゆうご飯はん (ゆうごはん) or 夜よるご飯はん (よるごはん). Each has a formal written version (朝食ちょうしょく, 昼食ちゅうしょく, 夕食ゆうしょく), a rough masculine version (朝飯あさめし, 昼飯ひるめし, 晩飯ばんめし), and a restaurant version (ランチ, ディナー).

Japanese does not have one word per meal the way English does. It has a small family of words for each meal, and the one you pick tells people how formal you are, where you are, and sometimes how tired you are. The good news is that the three casual words follow one pattern, so you can learn them all at once. This post focuses only on the three meals. If you are waiting on one of them with your stomach growling, see hungry in Japanese.

What are the basic words for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

What is the everyday pattern?

Take a time word and add ご飯はん: 朝あさ (あさ, morning) + ご飯はん = 朝あさご飯はん, 昼ひる (ひる, noon) + ご飯はん = 昼ひるご飯はん, 晩ばん (ばん, evening) + ご飯はん = 晩ばんご飯はん. This is the safest set for conversation, and it works with family, friends, teachers and coworkers.

朝あさご飯はんは何なにを食たべた? — What did you eat for breakfast? (casual) 昼ひるご飯はんはもう食たべましたか。 — Have you already eaten lunch? (polite) 今日きょうの晩ばんご飯はんはカレーだよ。 — Tonight's dinner is curry. (casual)

You will see the polite お in front too: お昼ひるご飯はん, お夕飯ゆうはん. In speech, people often add it when talking about someone else's meal or in a soft, careful tone.

Is there more than one word for dinner?

Yes. 晩ばんご飯はん (ばんごはん) and 夕ゆうご飯はん (ゆうごはん) are the classic pair, and 夜よるご飯はん (よるごはん) is the one more and more people say in conversation. All three mean the evening meal at home. 晩ばん and 夕ゆう sound a little traditional, and 夜よる literally means "night", which feels natural to many speakers because dinner often happens after dark.

夜よるご飯はん、何なににする? — What shall we have for dinner? (casual) 夕ゆうご飯はんの前まえに、お風呂ふろに入はいってね。 — Take a bath before dinner. (casual, a parent speaking)

You do not need to pick a side. If you listen to people around you, you will hear all three. For your own speech, 晩ばんご飯はん is the one nobody will ever find strange.

Can you just say お昼ひる?

Yes. お昼ひる (おひる) alone often means lunch, not only "noon". Whether it means the time or the meal depends on the sentence.

お昼ひるにしましょう。 — Let's have lunch. (polite) お昼ひる、何なに食たべる? — What are you having for lunch? (casual)

Nothing similar works as neatly for the other two meals. 朝あさ alone or 晩ばん alone would not stand for the meal in most sentences, so keep the ご飯はん on them.

Meal Everyday Written / formal Rough, masculine Restaurant word
Breakfast 朝あさご飯はん (あさごはん) 朝食ちょうしょく (ちょうしょく) 朝飯あさめし (あさめし) モーニング
Lunch 昼ひるご飯はん (ひるごはん), お昼ひる 昼食ちゅうしょく (ちゅうしょく) 昼飯ひるめし (ひるめし) ランチ
Dinner 晩ばんご飯はん, 夕ゆうご飯はん, 夜よるご飯はん 夕食ゆうしょく (ゆうしょく) 晩飯ばんめし (ばんめし) ディナー

Beyond the basics

When do you use 朝食ちょうしょく, 昼食ちゅうしょく and 夕食ゆうしょく?

Those three are the written and formal words. You will read them on signs, in hotel information, on forms and in news, and say them in very polite speech. They are all 漢語かんご (Chinese-origin compounds), which is why they sound stiffer than the ご飯はん words.

朝食ちょうしょくは七時しちじから九時くじまでです。 — Breakfast is served from seven to nine. (polite, a hotel notice) 昼食ちゅうしょくは各自かくじでお願ねがいします。 — Please take care of lunch on your own. (polite, a tour guide)

A very common sight is 朝食付ちょうしょくつきき (ちょうしょくつき), "with breakfast included", on hotel booking pages. The opposite is 朝食ちょうしょくなし, "no breakfast", or 素もと泊とまり (すどまり), a stay with no meals at all.

What are 朝飯あさめし, 昼飯ひるめし and 晩飯ばんめし?

Swap ご飯はん for 飯めし (めし) and you get a rougher, more masculine style: 朝飯あさめし, 昼飯ひるめし, 晩飯ばんめし. It is blunt but not rude, the way "grub" is not rude among friends. Men use it more, and women can use it too in a joking or rough mood.

朝飯あさめしを食くう暇ひまもなかった。 — I didn't even have time to eat breakfast. (rough, masculine) 昼飯ひるめし、一緒いっしょに行いかない? — Want to go get lunch together? (casual, masculine-leaning)

One famous phrase is 朝飯前あさめしまえ (あさめしまえ), "before breakfast". It means something so easy you could do it before the first meal of the day, like "a piece of cake".

そんなの朝飯前あさめしまえだよ。 — That's a piece of cake. (casual)

食くう is the rough cousin of 食たべる. For the ordinary verb, see eat in Japanese. Learners should recognize 食くう in anime, but save it for jokes rather than daily use.

When do ランチ and ディナー belong?

ランチ and ディナー are restaurant and menu words. They suggest eating out, a set menu, or a more special meal. Think of the line on a café board: ランチメニュー, ランチセット, ディナーコース. Cafés also use モーニング for a morning set, usually toast, egg and coffee.

ランチは駅前えきまえのカフェで食たべた。 — I ate lunch at the café by the station. (casual) 記念日きねんびだから、ディナーを予約よやくしたよ。 — It's our anniversary, so I booked a dinner. (casual)

For a shop that sells set meals, the word is 定食屋ていしょくや (ていしょくや). ランチ is perfectly natural for a workday meal out. ディナー, however, sounds like a nice restaurant evening, not a home meal.

How do you invite someone to eat, and what do you say at the table?

Use ご飯はんにしよう (let's eat) or the verb 食たべる with the meal word, and say いただきます before and ごちそうさまでした after. ご飯はん here means "the meal", and 〜にしよう means "let's go with ~". For more on the verb, see eat in Japanese.

そろそろご飯はんにしよう。 — Let's eat soon. (casual) いただきます。 — Thank you for the meal. (said before eating) ごちそうさまでした。 — Thank you, that was a feast. (said after eating)

いただきます and ごちそうさま are said at every meal, not only dinner, and also when you eat alone. They are fixed phrases, so you do not translate the meal into them.

How do you hear it in anime?

The most common line is a parent or a sibling calling out ご飯はんできたよ. You will hear it in slice-of-life shows from a kitchen doorway, often with the meal word first.

朝あさご飯はんできたよ。早はやく起おきて。 — Breakfast is ready. Get up quickly. (casual, a family member) みんな、晩ばんご飯はんだよ。 — Everyone, it's dinner time. (casual)

Notice that が is dropped. The speaker uses a short plain form, and だよ or できたよ gives the friendly tone. Time words like 今日きょう (きょう) and 明日あした (あした) are easy to add. If you want to say what time dinner is, see how to tell time in Japanese.

Common mistakes

  • Using ディナー for a normal dinner at home. 今日きょうのディナーはカレー sounds like a restaurant menu item. At home, say 晩ばんご飯はん or 夜よるご飯はん.
  • Using 夕食ゆうしょく in a chat with a friend. 夕食ゆうしょくは何なににする? feels like a notice board. Say 晩ばんご飯はん or 夜よるご飯はん.
  • Using 朝飯あさめし or 昼飯ひるめし with a boss or a customer. It comes across as rough. Use 朝あさご飯はん, 昼ひるご飯はん or the polite お昼ひる.
  • Dropping ご飯はん from 朝あさ and 晩ばん. お昼ひる can stand alone, but 朝あさ and 晩ばん usually cannot.
  • Saying 朝あさご飯はんをします. The meal is eaten, so say 朝あさご飯はんを食たべる.
  • Reading 昼ひる as ちゅう in 昼ひるご飯はん. 昼ひるご飯はん is ひるごはん. The ちゅう reading is in 昼食ちゅうしょく.

Practice

Try each answer before opening it. Questions 3 and 4 are a pair: the same dinner at home versus in a restaurant. Questions 5 and 6 are a pair: the same breakfast at a hotel versus with friends.

1. Ask a friend, casually, "What did you eat for breakfast?"

Show answer

朝あさご飯はんは何なにを食たべた? — 朝あさご飯はん is the everyday word, and 食たべた is the casual past.

2. Ask politely, "Have you already eaten lunch?"

Show answer

昼ひるご飯はんはもう食たべましたか。 — 昼ひるご飯はん plus 食たべましたか is polite and natural. 昼食ちゅうしょく would sound like an announcement.

3. At home, say, "Tonight's dinner is curry."

Show answer

今日きょうの晩ばんご飯はんはカレーだよ。 — a home meal calls for 晩ばんご飯はん, not ディナー.

4. Say, "It's our anniversary, so I booked a dinner."

Show answer

記念日きねんびだから、ディナーを予約よやくしたよ。 — a booked, special restaurant evening is exactly what ディナー suggests. This is the pair to question 3.

5. A hotel notice says breakfast is served from seven to nine. Write it.

Show answer

朝食ちょうしょくは七時しちじから九時くじまでです。 — written notices use 朝食ちょうしょく, the formal word.

6. Say, "I didn't even have time to eat breakfast," in a rough, masculine tone.

Show answer

朝飯あさめしを食くう暇ひまもなかった。 — 朝飯あさめし and 食くう are the rough pair. This is the pair to question 5.

7. Say, "Let's have lunch," using only お昼ひる.

Show answer

お昼ひるにしましょう。 — お昼ひる alone means lunch, and にしましょう means "let's go with it".

8. Say, "That's a piece of cake."

Show answer

そんなの朝飯前あさめしまえだよ。 — 朝飯前あさめしまえ means "before breakfast", so it is easy.

9. A parent calls: "Breakfast is ready. Get up quickly."

Show answer

朝あさご飯はんできたよ。早はやく起おきて。 — the short casual form is exactly how a family speaks.

10. Fix: 友ともだちに「夕食ゆうしょくは何なににする?」と言いった。

Show answer

晩ばんご飯はんは何なににする? — 夕食ゆうしょく is too stiff for a friend, so use 晩ばんご飯はん or 夜よるご飯はん.

Say 朝あさご飯はんできたよ, 昼ひるご飯はん and 晩ばんご飯はん in a short family scene in a trial lesson and notice which form of "dinner" feels natural to you.

FAQ

How do you say "breakfast" in Japanese? 朝あさご飯はん (あさごはん) in everyday speech, 朝食ちょうしょく (ちょうしょく) in formal writing.

How do you say "lunch" in Japanese? 昼ひるご飯はん (ひるごはん) or just お昼ひる in speech, 昼食ちゅうしょく (ちゅうしょく) in writing, and ランチ for restaurant menus.

How do you say "dinner" in Japanese? 晩ばんご飯はん (ばんごはん) is the safest word. 夕ゆうご飯はん and 夜よるご飯はん also work at home, 夕食ゆうしょく is formal, and ディナー is restaurant style.

Is 夜よるご飯はん correct? Yes. It is a modern, natural word that many people say in conversation, even though the older words are 晩ばんご飯はん and 夕ゆうご飯はん.

What is the difference between ご飯はん and 飯めし? ご飯はん is the polite, neutral word. 飯めし (めし) is rough and masculine.

What does 朝食付ちょうしょくつきき mean? "Breakfast included." You see it on hotel booking pages.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab — the first column becomes the front, the second the back.

朝ご飯	あさごはん — breakfast
昼ご飯	ひるごはん — lunch
晩ご飯	ばんごはん — dinner
夕ご飯	ゆうごはん — dinner
夜ご飯	よるごはん — dinner
お昼	おひる — lunch, noon
朝食	ちょうしょく — breakfast (formal)
昼食	ちゅうしょく — lunch (formal)
夕食	ゆうしょく — dinner (formal)
朝飯	あさめし — breakfast (rough)
昼飯	ひるめし — lunch (rough)
晩飯	ばんめし — dinner (rough)
朝飯前	あさめしまえ — piece of cake
ランチ	ランチ — lunch (restaurant)
ディナー	ディナー — dinner (restaurant)
モーニング	モーニング — morning set at a café
朝食付き	ちょうしょくつき — breakfast included
素泊まり	すどまり — a stay with no meals
ご飯にしよう	ごはんにしよう — let's eat
いただきます	いただきます — thank you for the meal (before)
ごちそうさまでした	ごちそうさまでした — thank you for the meal (after)

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime. Anime kitchens are where I first heard 朝あさご飯はんできたよ, and it is still the line I teach first to anyone who wants to sound like a real family member. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or try the Japanese practice exercises first.

Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference dictionaries.

More drills like the ones above, plus a timed JLPT-style mock test: Practice · N5 · Read something at this level: JLPT N5 stories with audio

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