Meaning of 晚餐
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- evening meal; dinner
Measure word: 份,頓|顿,次
How to use 晚餐
晚餐 is a slightly more formal or written word for dinner, often seen on menus, in restaurants, and in invitations. In everyday speech many people say 晚饭 (wǎnfàn) instead. Example: 我们七点吃晚餐。(Wǒmen qī diǎn chī wǎncān.) We eat dinner at seven.
晚 (wǎn) means late or evening, and 餐 (cān) means a meal. Put them together and you get the late meal of the day: dinner.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 晚 (wǎn) with 晓 (xiǎo) or 免 (miǎn) because of the similar right side; 晚 has the sun radical 日 plus 免. Also keep the third tone on wǎn and the first tone on cān, not cǎn.
晚餐 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
晚 wǎn · evening · 11 strokes
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餐 cān · meal · 16 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 晚餐.
| 晚上 | wǎnshang | evening; night |
| 晚饭 | wǎnfàn | evening meal; dinner |
| 晚安 | wǎn'ān | Good night!; Good evening! |
| 早餐 | zǎocān | breakfast |
| 午餐 | wǔcān | lunch; luncheon |
| 晚会 | wǎnhuì | evening party |
| 快餐 | kuàicān | fast food; snack |
| 中餐 | zhōngcān | lunch; Chinese meal; Chinese food |
| 晚报 | wǎnbào | evening newspaper; (in a newspaper's name) Evening News |
| 西餐 | xīcān | Western-style food |
| 晚点 | wǎndiǎn | (of trains etc) late; delayed |
| 套餐 | tàocān | set meal; (fig.) product or service package (e.g. for a cell phone subscription) |
Questions about 晚餐
What does 晚餐 mean?
晚餐 (wǎncān) means "evening meal; dinner" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 晚餐?
晚餐 is made of 2 characters: 晚 (11 strokes), 餐 (16 strokes). That is 27 strokes in total.
Is 晚餐 an HSK word?
Yes. 晚餐 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 晚餐 and 晚饭?
Both mean dinner. 晚饭 (wǎnfàn) is more casual and common in daily conversation at home, while 晚餐 (wǎncān) sounds a bit more formal and is common in restaurants, writing, and set phrases like 共进晚餐 (gòng jìn wǎncān), to have dinner together.
What verb do I use with 晚餐?
The most common verb is 吃 (chī), as in 吃晚餐 (chī wǎncān), to eat dinner. You can also say 做晚餐 (zuò wǎncān), to make dinner. The same pattern works for 早餐 (zǎocān) breakfast and 午餐 (wǔcān) lunch.