早饭
Definitions & Senses
breakfast
早饭 vs 早餐: Which One Should You Use?
Both mean breakfast, but they live in different social circles.
Use 早饭 (zǎo fàn) in daily conversation; use 早餐 (zǎo cān) in writing or formal settings. Same meaning, different vibe.
早饭 is the everyday, spoken word for breakfast. 早餐 is more formal and often appears on menus, in business contexts, or in written Chinese. If you say 早饭 to a friend, it sounds natural; if you say 早餐 at a hotel buffet, it sounds classy.
早饭 has 饭 (cooked rice) – think of home-style rice porridge. 早餐 has 餐 (formal meal) – think of a hotel breakfast buffet.
Don't Say 一个早饭 – Use 一顿早饭
Meals take the measure word 顿, not 个.
In Chinese, meals are counted with 顿 (dùn), which implies a regular, sit-down meal. So it's 一顿早饭, not 一个早饭.
Where to Put Time Words: 我早上吃早饭
Time words go before the verb, not after.
In Chinese, time expressions like 早上 (morning) come before the verb. So say 我早上吃早饭, not 我吃早饭早上.
This is the standard word order for time in Chinese. Time words are adverbs, so they sit before the verb.
我早上吃早饭。
I eat breakfast in the morning.
Use 吃 as the verb for eating breakfast. You can also use 喝 if you only have a drink, but 吃 is the default.
他每天七点吃早饭。
He eats breakfast at seven every day.
The Visual Story Behind 早饭
See the characters and never forget the meaning.
早饭 literally means 'early rice' – 早 (early) + 饭 (cooked rice). In Chinese culture, rice is a staple, so 饭 came to mean 'meal' in general.
早 shows the sun (日) rising above a horizon, symbolizing morning. 饭 combines 饣 (food radical) with 反 (fǎn), which gives the sound. Together, they paint a picture of the first meal of the day.
Real Context Sentences 1 occurrence
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起床吃 早饭 ，
Character Breakdown
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