"Well then, let's eat!"
Translation:じゃあ、いただきます。
59 Comments
It doesn't quite literally mean "let's eat," it means like "I humbly receive [this food]."
It does actually accept it as correct; it's what I wrote. Some of these questions are a little questionable if you ask me...
Whats the point of the Jya before itadakimasu? I apologize in advance for the lack of hiragana, im on my phone.
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じゃあ in this sentence is an interjection, usually translated as "well" or "so".
I think じゃあ is actually a casual/spoken form of the particle では which in turn, as an interjection, is short for それでは. I'm not entirely sure how to explain the interplay between それ, で and は in that phrase, but all in all, it roughly means "with that being the case..."
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それ - referring to the things that we have just discussed.
で - "as that state in completeness" like in である, or in これで全部です
は - the topic marker
So それでは means, while we have completed the previous discussion, we (do something else...)
It is a set phrase. Before you eat, you say いただきます！ like "Guten Appetit" in German or "Bon appétit" in French. It's a way of wishing a good and tasty meal to everyone.
In most anime I've seen, it get translated to "thanks for the food" and I think it's the best way to translate it. There's a philosophy in japan that says you should be thankful for the food you eat and not waste it, because "There are seven gods in a grain of rice". It means that nature and people have put their lives in the line just so you could eat a meal and you should be thankful for it.
Actually, I don't think there is a very pretty way of saying it in english. I think we always used to say "bon appetit" or just "dig in".
How about "enjoy your meal"? Not exactly a litteral translation, but it seems pretty idiomatic to me.
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That's directed at the listener though; there's a different phrase for that in Japanese (召し上がれ).
いただきます is directed at the speaker, since it's literally "I will receive"
That's nice, except I don't like to get marked for a wrong answer when I was never shown the lesson in the first place.
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When you're speaking, no, you can add it or not depending on the situation you're in.
However, in this learning exercise, it is necessary because if you don't, Duo thinks you don't know that "Well then" = じゃあ.
But it furthers thw question, why isbit being taught. I am currently living in Japan have never heard anybody say it line this.
How do I type the や small? (I'm using the Japanese keyboard in Google input tools)
I'm not sure what Google input tools is, but I'm using both Microsoft and Android (Google?). To write じゃ you'd type "jya". (Hope this isn't too late to be helpful.)
Sorry I'm not familiar with the Google input tools but if it helps, I use the Microsoft Japanese language pack instead and when I want to input ょinstead of よ, I type 'xyo' instead of 'yo'. Same with ゅ and ゃ. It may just work with Google inputs too so give it a try.
You can also hit l and then type in the hiragana you desire. Think of it as little-や.
?I wrote さあ、and it told me I should have used さぁ but idk how to type this. Shouldn't さあ be correct as well?
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I agree さあ should be accepted, but as far as I'm aware, さぁ is the same thing. さあ is technically the correct version to use, but さぁ is a valid stylistic choice, especially in informal writing.
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Here is a pretty good explanation: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/itadakimasu-meaning/
In this phrase it is required. います is a form of what we would call a linking verb in English. In this format it denotes present tense and is essentially a form of the verb "to be"
Where did "Well then" come from? I have never heard anyone say that in English and now out of the blue we are supposed to know it in Japanese.
じゃあ、食べましょう works as well (the polite volitional form, meaning "Let's eat").
Shouldn't it be a yo at the end, since it's "let's eat"? Or is weird to say 『いただきましょう』? I know you say ikimashyou for "let's go" for example.
いただきます (apart from being a set phrase and therefore not necessarily flowing the same rules as usual) I believe does not literally translate to "let's eat". It is just a useful translation since the two phrases are similar in use (moreso than the literal translations would be.)
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Adding to that, いただきます literally means "to (humbly) receive" and can be used in other situations too, usually as an auxiliary verb.
To answer OP's question, it's not necessarily weird to say いただきましょう, but it implies that you are asking others in your group for confirmation that they too agree with your decision to receive it, and doesn't carry any of the same meaning we get from the set phrase いただきま.
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Yes, you can, but it changes the nuance of the phrase. いただきますね is no longer "let's eat", but "I'm going to eat, okay?"
Really... There should be more literal translation to help better understand. Learning premade sentences won't help rearrange the words in a new context...
Why doesn't this question accept いただき while similar questions accept ごちそうさま? If I can use the informal "thank you for the meal" why can't I do the same for "let's eat"?
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For one, ごちそうさま isn't informal. And for another, いただき isn't a complete phrase (unless you mean the noun "peak, summit", but that doesn't work either).
I've seen it written as both じゃ and じゃあ, and I'm kind of confused which one it is.
