밥 먹었어요?
[밤 머거써요]bap meogeosseoyo?
Have you eaten?
Everyday phrase
"Have you eaten?" — a caring way to say hello
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Meaning & nuance
Literally "Did you eat rice?" 밥 means cooked rice and, more broadly, a meal. Friends, family and coworkers use it to check in on each other, the way you might ask "How are you doing?"
It usually isn't an invitation, so a short, honest answer is fine: 네, 먹었어요 (Yes, I did) or 아직 안 먹었어요 (Not yet). If you say you haven't eaten, don't be surprised if someone suggests eating together.
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Examples
밥 먹었어요? — 네, 방금 먹었어요.Have you eaten? — Yes, I just ate.
아직 안 먹었으면 같이 먹을래요?If you haven't eaten yet, want to eat together?
할머니, 식사하셨어요?Grandma, have you had your meal?
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Forms & politeness
- 밥 먹었어?
- casual, with friends
- 식사하셨어요?
- honorific, to elders
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Hangul blocks
밥ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅂ먹ㅁ + ㅓ + ㄱ었ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅆ어ㅇ + ㅓ요ㅇ + ㅛ
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Good to know
In speech, 밥 and 먹 run together and the ㅂ turns into ㅁ: [밤머거써요]. Romanization still writes each word as spelled: bap meogeosseoyo.
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Related words
Dictionary: 표준국어대사전 · 밥 ↗
Meanings are written in our own words. The link opens the Standard Korean Language Dictionary entry.