食 — Kanji Meaning, Readings & Example Words (JLPT N5)
What it means
At its heart, 食 is all about eating and food. You'll meet it in two roles: as a standalone verb (食べる, "to eat") and as a building block inside dozens of food- and meal-related words (食事 "a meal," 食料品 "groceries," 外食 "eating out," 給食 "school lunch"). The nice payoff is that whenever you spot 食 in an unfamiliar word, you can bet it has something to do with eating — an instant head start on the meaning.
Readings
| Type | Reading | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| kun'yomi | た.べる | 食べる (to eat), 食べ物 (food) |
| kun'yomi | く.う | 食う (to eat — rough/casual) |
| on'yomi | ショク | 食事 (meal), 食堂 (dining hall), 食料品 (groceries) |
| on'yomi | ジキ | 断食 (だんじき, fasting) — rare |
Here's a rule of thumb that works for most kanji, not just this one: the kun'yomi (た.べる) tends to show up when the kanji stands more or less alone with hiragana endings, while the on'yomi (ショク) appears inside two-kanji compound words. So 食べる uses た.べる, but 食堂 uses ショク. Spotting that pattern early will help you guess readings for kanji you haven't even studied yet.
Stroke order & radical
- Strokes: 9, written top to bottom — the "roof" on top first, then the contents below.
- Radical: 食 is its own radical, the "eat" radical (しょく). On the left side of other kanji it gets squished into the form 飠/⻞ — which is your clue that those kanji relate to food or drink. You'll see it in 飲 (to drink) and 飯 (cooked rice / meal), among others.
Recognizing that radical is genuinely useful: meet a new kanji with 飠 on the left and you can already guess it's food-adjacent.
Common words using 食
Notice the reading split in action: the lone-verb 食べる takes た.べる, while every compound (食堂, 食事, 食料品) flips to ショク. That's the rule of thumb above, working exactly as advertised.
Example sentences
ヤッタンは毎朝パンを食べます。
ヤッタンは まいあさ パンを たべます。
Yattan eats bread every morning.
食べる — the kun'yomi た.べる reading.
モチは学校の食堂で昼ご飯を食べた。
モチは がっこうの しょくどうで ひるごはんを たべた。
Mochi ate lunch in the school cafeteria.
Both readings in one sentence: 食堂 (ショク) and 食べた (た.べる). A great sentence to remember the split.
先生は「食事の前に手を洗いましょう」と言いました。
せんせいは「しょくじの まえに てを あらいましょう」と いいました。
Sensei said, Let's wash our hands before the meal.
Easy to confuse with
These three all share that food-and-drink radical, so it's worth seeing them side by side:
| Form | Core idea | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 食 (eat) | eating / food | 食べる = to eat |
| 飲 (drink) | drinking — same 食-based radical on the left | 飲む = to drink |
| 飯 (meal/rice) | cooked rice, a meal | ご飯 = cooked rice / meal |
The shared left-side radical is your tip-off that all three live in the "food and drink" neighborhood.
A memory trick
Here's one that sticks: picture a roof (𠆢) over a little table piled with good things to eat. You step under the roof of a restaurant to eat. The top of 食 really does look like a roof, and everything beneath it is the food laid out on the table. Once you see the roof-and-table, you won't forget the shape.
Quick recap
- 食 = eat / food; 9 strokes; it's the "eat" radical itself.
- た.べる when it stands alone (食べる); ショク in compounds (食堂, 食事).
- The squished radical 飠 on a kanji's left hints "food/drink" — as in 飲 and 飯.
Your turn
Choose the correct reading of 食 in each word.
ことばの読み方として正しいものを選びなさい。
主食
Frequently asked questions
How do you read 食 in 食べる vs 食堂?
In 食べる it's the kun'yomi た (食べる = たべる, 'to eat'). In 食堂 it's the on'yomi ショク (食堂 = しょくどう, 'dining hall'). As a rule, compounds take the on'yomi.
How many strokes does 食 have?
食 has 9 strokes and is also the 'eat' radical, which appears as 飠 on the left of related kanji like 飲 (drink) and 飯 (meal).
What's the difference between 食べる and 食う?
Both mean 'to eat.' 食べる (たべる) is the standard, neutral-polite verb. 食う (くう) is rough and casual, used mostly by men in informal speech.
What does the radical in 食 tell me?
食 is the 'eat' radical. When it sits on the left of another kanji as 飠, it signals the kanji relates to food or drink — a handy clue for guessing meanings.