Eating food is one of human’s basic needs. Food has also develop not only to fulfill our needs, but also become human culture. Every different part of the world has its own unique food. Indonesia, with thousands of islands has thousands kinds of delicious traditional food. You can check what to order in Indonesian restaurant to prove that Indonesia has many delicious food.
Read explanation below to help you eat at Indonesian restaurant, especially about how to say eat in Indonesian.
Word “eat” meaning in Indonesian
There are two Indonesian words that often be used to describe eat. The first word is “makan”, and the second word is “menyantap” or “menyantap makanan”.
The word “makan” is the most common official translation for the word “eat”. It is a verb. In English, there are present continuous tense, past tense, verb 1, verb 2, and verb 3. Below are several of its translation into Indonesian words:
- Eat : makan/memakan
- Ate : sudah makan
- Eaten : dimakan
- Eating : makan/sedang memakan
The difference between makan and memakan is “memakan” means more active verb than makan. It is also considered more polite to be used as a verb in a sentence. Also, the word menyantap is the most suitable to be used in a present state.
The second Indonesian word for “eat” is “menyantap makanan.” If you use only “menyantap”, it will not enough because that word needs an object. “Makanan” is “food” in English, so “menyantap makanan” can also be translated as “eating a food”.
What to say before and after eating together in Indonesian
Before eating together in Indonesian restaurant, you have to order the food first. You can learn about how to order food in Indonesian first. You can check about Indonesian phrases for ordering food and conversation in restaurant in Bahasa Indonesia to know more and to reduce language problems you may have.
Before eating, several culture has a sentece that should be said. For example itadakimasu in Japanese, jalmukesumneda in Korean, Bon Appétit in Frech, etc. All of it has the similar meaning “have a nice meal”.
In Indonesian, if you want to say something similar with “have a nice meal”, you can say it similar with how to greet people in Indonesia. You will need word “selamat”. Say “have a nice meal” as “selamat makan” in Indonesia.
However, saying “selamat makan” is not very common in Indonesia. It is more common said in restaurants where people eat together, as a polite gesture even though it is not a must.
After eating, you may want to thank the cook. There are several ways about how to say thank you in Bahasa Indonesia. To say “thank you for the food” you can say simply it as “terima kasih atas makanannya” in Indonesian.
Several examples of using word “eat” in Indonesian daily sentences
Below are several examples of using word “eat” in Indonesian daily conversational sentences:
- I want to eat fried rice.
Aku ingin makan nasi goreng.
Saya ingin memakan nasi goreng.
- Let’s eat at ABC restaurant.
Ayo makan di restoran ABC.
- Have you eaten dinner?
Apakah kamu sudah makan malam?
- My sister is eating a fried chicken.
Adikku sedang memakan ayam goreng.
Adikku sedang makan ayam goreng.
Adikku sedang menyantap ayam goreng.
- I ate a burger yesterday.
Aku memakan burger kemarin.
Aku makan burger kemarin.
That’s all about how to say eat in Indonesian. Thank you for reading.