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
毎朝パンを食べます。
まいあさ パンを たべます。
I eat bread every morning.
食べる — the kun'yomi た.べる reading.
学校の食堂で昼ご飯を食べた。
がっこうの しょくどうで ひるごはんを たべた。
I 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.
食事の前に手を洗いましょう。
しょくじの まえに てを あらいましょう。
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.
Start the 5-question drill →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.