<p>Without context, you can only break down the phrase into word types and follow the grammar rule to interpret it literally</p>
<blockquote>
<p>吃(verb: eat) + 上(verb particle: successfully/ able to)+ 饭(noun: meals)</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>吃上饭</strong> = successfully/ able to eat meal = <strong>able to acquire and eat food</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>To check this structure is universal or not, replace the noun and see if it is still grammatical</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>吃上龙虾</strong> = successfully/ able to eat lobster = <strong>able to acquireand and eat lobster</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>~</p>
<blockquote>
<p>吃(verb: eat) + 下(verb particle: down) + 饭(noun: meal/ food)</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>吃下饭</strong> = eat down a meal = <strong>ingest food</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>To check this structure is universal or not, replace the noun and see if it is still grammatical</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>吃下毒药</strong> = eat down poison  = <strong>ingest poison</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Longer sentences can illustrate the functions of the phrases better</p>
<p>1a. 他窮得快<strong>吃不上饭</strong>了 = He is so poor that he'll soon <strong>unable to acquire and eat food</strong> (= can't afford food)</p>
<p>1b. 有工作才<strong>吃得上饭</strong> = You <strong>can acquire and eat food</strong> only when you have a job</p>
<p>2a. 他虛弱得<strong>吃不下饭</strong>了 = He is so weak that he <strong>can't eat down food (= can't ingest food)</strong></p>
<p>2b. 他的病好了許多，已經<strong>吃得下饭</strong>了 = His body has recovered a lot, already <strong>able to ingest food</strong></p>
<p>Studying the example, 吃上饭, and 吃下饭 mostly work with potential particles 得 or 不 (able/ unable) --&gt; [吃(得)上饭], [吃(不)上饭]; [吃(得)下饭], [吃(不)下饭]</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-08T23:12:18.397Z
2021-03-10T23:43:36.307Z
2021-03-10T23:43:36.307Z
Tang Ho
<p>忙了一天我终于<code>吃上饭</code>了 -&gt; i finally managed to eat after a busy day</p>
<p>this emphasises being able to.</p>
<hr />
<p>我心情不好，<code>吃</code>不<code>下饭</code> -&gt; i'm not in the mood to eat</p>
<p><code>下</code> emphasises &quot;down&quot;</p>
<p>the minimum requirement of eating is to swallow down the food, but i am not even able to do that because of bad mood.</p>
<hr />
<p>我去学校的食堂<code>吃下饭</code> or 我去学校的食堂<code>吃</code>一<code>下饭</code> -&gt; i'm gonna grab some food from the uni's cafe</p>
<p>in this example, <code>下</code> does not really mean &quot;down&quot; it's more of saying this is not going to take long.</p>
<p>take a computer analogy, think of this like a piece of code only costs very few cpu cycles</p>
<p>think of <code>一下</code> like a piece of code only costs explicitly 1 cpu cycle</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-09T15:44:57.047Z
2021-03-29T22:08:21.533Z
2021-03-29T22:08:21.533Z
lk9100
<p>吃下饭：eat</p>
<p>我们还可以在电影开始前去外面吃下饭。<br />
We can have dinner before the film starts.</p>
<p>吃上饭： have <em>something</em> to eat, however meagre, as opposed to nothing at all</p>
<p>他们已经四五天没吃上一顿像样的饭了。
They haven't had a decent meal in four or five days.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-09T08:21:08.580Z
2021-03-09T08:21:08.580Z
Pedroski
<p>I think one means it hasn’t happened yet and the other means it’s already happened, but I don’t really understand what that means when trying to translate into English or when trying to think of it in some kind of context.</p>

<mandarin><simplified-characters><direction-complement><complement><result-complement>
What’s the difference between 吃上饭 and 吃下饭?
# What’s the difference between 吃上饭 and 吃下饭?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-08)

I think one means it hasn’t happened yet and the other means it’s already happened, but I don’t really understand what that means when trying to translate into English or when trying to think of it in some kind of context.

**Tags:** mandarin, simplified-characters, direction-complement, complement, result-complement


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-03-08. Score: 6

Without context, you can only break down the phrase into word types and follow the grammar rule to interpret it literally

> 吃(verb: eat) + 上(verb particle: successfully/ able to)+ 饭(noun: meals)

> **吃上饭** = successfully/ able to eat meal = **able to acquire and eat food**

> To check this structure is universal or not, replace the noun and see if it is still grammatical

> **吃上龙虾** = successfully/ able to eat lobster = **able to acquireand and eat lobster**

~

> 吃(verb: eat) + 下(verb particle: down) + 饭(noun: meal/ food)

> **吃下饭** = eat down a meal = **ingest food**

> To check this structure is universal or not, replace the noun and see if it is still grammatical

> **吃下毒药** = eat down poison = **ingest poison**

Longer sentences can illustrate the functions of the phrases better

1a. 他窮得快**吃不上饭**了 = He is so poor that he'll soon **unable to acquire and eat food** (= can't afford food)

1b. 有工作才**吃得上饭** = You **can acquire and eat food** only when you have a job

2a. 他虛弱得**吃不下饭**了 = He is so weak that he **can't eat down food (= can't ingest food)**

2b. 他的病好了許多，已經**吃得下饭**了 = His body has recovered a lot, already **able to ingest food**

Studying the example, 吃上饭, and 吃下饭 mostly work with potential particles 得 or 不 (able/ unable) --> [吃(得)上饭], [吃(不)上饭]; [吃(得)下饭], [吃(不)下饭]


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-03-09. Score: 4

忙了一天我终于`吃上饭`了 -> i finally managed to eat after a busy day

this emphasises being able to.

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我心情不好，`吃`不`下饭` -> i'm not in the mood to eat

`下` emphasises "down"

the minimum requirement of eating is to swallow down the food, but i am not even able to do that because of bad mood.

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我去学校的食堂`吃下饭` or 我去学校的食堂`吃`一`下饭` -> i'm gonna grab some food from the uni's cafe

in this example, `下` does not really mean "down" it's more of saying this is not going to take long.

take a computer analogy, think of this like a piece of code only costs very few cpu cycles

think of `一下` like a piece of code only costs explicitly 1 cpu cycle


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-03-09. Score: 1

吃下饭：eat

我们还可以在电影开始前去外面吃下饭。  
We can have dinner before the film starts.

吃上饭： have *something* to eat, however meagre, as opposed to nothing at all

他们已经四五天没吃上一顿像样的饭了。
They haven't had a decent meal in four or five days.


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