by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “What are you eating?” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
What are you eating?
何食べてるの?
nani tabeteruno
- what = 何 nani
- you = あなたは* anatawa
- are eating = 食べているの** tabeteiruno
*We do not usually say “あなたは (anatawa)” in everyday conversation.
**”食べているの (tabeteiruno)” becomes “食べてるの (tabeteruno)” in spoken language.
何
what
+
食べてるの?
are eating?
If you want to ask politely, you can say :
何食べてるんですか?
nani tabeterundesuka
(casual)
何食べてるの?
(polite)
何食べてるんですか?