食べる is neutral; 召し上がる respectfully describes another person’s eating or drinking.
The idea
Use 食べる for your own or a familiar person’s eating. Use 召し上がる to honor the person eating or drinking, such as a guest or teacher. Its polite form is 召し上がります; the polite form of 食べる is 食べます.
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| 食べる | 私が食べます |
| 召し上がる | 先生が召し上がります |
Examples
- 私は朝、パンを食べます。I eat bread in the morning.
- 先生は昼にそばを召し上がります。The teacher eats soba at noon.
- 友達と一緒に晩ご飯を食べました。I ate dinner with a friend.
- お客様はもう召し上がりましたか。Has the guest eaten already?
- どうぞ、このケーキを召し上がってください。Please have some of this cake.
- 社長はお茶を召し上がります。The company president drinks tea.
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Watch out
Do not use 召し上がる for your own action: it elevates the eater, not the listener. いただきます can humbly describe your own eating.
Try it yourself
私はパンを＿＿。（食べます／召し上がります）
Show answer or example answer
食べます
食べます is the neutral polite form for your own meal.
先生はそばを＿＿。（食べます／召し上がります）
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召し上がります
召し上がります honors the teacher, who is eating.
どうぞ、ケーキを＿＿。（食べてください／召し上がってください）
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召し上がってください
召し上がってください is a respectful invitation to the guest.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Japanese sentences where available. We keep your score.
私はパンを＿＿。（食べます／召し上がります）
先生はそばを＿＿。（食べます／召し上がります）
どうぞ、ケーキを＿＿。（食べてください／召し上がってください）
召し上がってください
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Choose the form that fits who is eating, then invite a guest to eat.