Eat and drink

The pattern

たべます / のみます

How they differ

These are polite ます (masu) verbs, like いきます from the last lesson.

The thing you eat or drink often takes を (o):

「すし を たべます。」(sushi o tabemasu): I eat sushi.

「コーヒー を のみます。」(koohii o nomimasu): I drink coffee.

In casual talk you may hear the を drop: 「なに たべる?」(nani taberu?) — still fine to understand.

You already met the wish forms たべたいです / のみたいです. Here you're learning the plain polite action: I eat / I drink.

Mouth jobs: たべ = eat, のみ = drink. Stick ます on for polite "I do."

One line: たべます・のみます.

Next: Polite yes/no and past on verbs you know: ます / ません / ました / ませんでした.

See it in a sentence

1. sushi o tabemasu

   すし を たべます。

   I eat sushi. (polite)

2. koohii o nomimasu

   コーヒー を のみます。

   I drink coffee. (polite)

3. nani o tabemasu ka?

   なに を たべますか?

   What will you eat? (polite)

4. mizu o nomimasu

   みず を のみます。

   I drink water. (polite)

5. raamen o tabemasu

   ラーメン を たべます。

   I eat ramen. (polite)

Watch out

たべます (tabemasu) = eat / のみます (nomimasu) = drink たべたいです (tabetai desu) = I want to eat / たべます (tabemasu) = I eat を (o) marks the food or drink; に (ni) was for destinations like えき に いきます

Try it

1. In your next story, find たべます or のみます (or たべる / のむ). Say the line out loud and name what is being eaten or drunk if you can see it.

   Check against the lesson cluster and say it out loud.