🍽️ Meals - Comidas
Beginner Spanish · Meals and eating routines
Meals in Spanish
Talking about meals is more useful than simply memorizing food words. Learn how to say when you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, ask what is being served, and talk about being hungry, thirsty, or full.
Your next small win: talk about your daily meals, ask what and when people are eating, and use common expressions for hunger, thirst, and mealtime.
Start with the meals of the day
Basic Meals
These words cover the meals and small eating moments you are most likely to talk about.
Breakfast
Lunch / midday meal
Dinner / evening meal
Snack / light meal
Dessert
Regional note: almuerzo and comida can both refer to a midday meal, depending on the country. Comida can also mean “food” or “meal” more generally.
Name your meals
Say “breakfast, lunch, and dinner” in Spanish.
Desayuno, almuerzo y cena.
Parts of a meal
Starter / appetizer
First course
Main course
Side dish
Drink / beverage
Turn meal names into actions
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner as Verbs
Spanish has specific verbs for several meals, so you can say what meal you are having without adding a separate verb for “eat.”
To have breakfast
To have lunch
To have dinner
To eat
To drink
Put the verbs into sentences
I have breakfast at eight.
We have lunch together.
We have dinner at home.
I drink water with meals.
Add a time
Say that you have breakfast at seven in the morning.
Desayuno a las siete de la mañana.
Say how you feel around mealtime
Hungry, Thirsty, and Full
Spanish uses tener for hunger and thirst.
I'm hungry.
I'm thirsty.
I'm full.
Enjoy your meal!
Let's eat!
It's delicious.
Important pattern: say Tengo hambre and Tengo sed, not forms with estar.
After a big meal
Someone offers you dessert, but you are full. Respond politely.
No, gracias. Estoy lleno.
Build a daily eating routine
Talking About Meals and Time
I have breakfast at seven in the morning.
We eat together every day.
We have lunch together at noon.
We normally have dinner at home.
I eat a light snack in the afternoon.
Meal times around the Spanish-speaking world
Meal schedules vary considerably between countries and regions. Desayuno is breakfast, but the foods and timing vary. Almuerzo and comida may refer to the midday meal depending on the region. Merienda often refers to a light snack or small meal, frequently in the afternoon. Cena is the evening meal, but dinner time also varies widely.
Put meals into conversation
Everyday Meal Conversations
What's for lunch?
What's for lunch?
Today there's soup, rice, and chicken.
Dinner plans
What time are we having dinner?
We're having dinner at eight.
After the meal
Would you like some dessert?
No, thank you. I'm full.
Describe your meal routine
Say what time you eat breakfast, where you usually have dinner, and whether you have a snack during the day.
Desayuno a las siete.
Normalmente ceno en casa.
Por la tarde como una merienda ligera.
More meal examples
What are we going to have for dinner tonight?
Do you want dessert after eating?
The soup is hot and delicious.
My mother cooks really well on weekends.
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: Meals
Choose the phrase that fits each situation. Focus on meal verbs, hunger and thirst, mealtime questions, and regional meal vocabulary.
Practice complete
You can talk about meals and everyday eating routines.
A few meal phrases to revisit
One last step: describe your meals without choices.
Describe a normal day of eating. Include breakfast, lunch or a midday meal, dinner, and one expression such as Tengo hambre or Estoy lleno / llena.
Desayuno a las siete.
Almuerzo al mediodía.
Por la tarde tengo hambre y como una merienda.
Normalmente ceno en casa a las ocho.
You are hungry. Which phrase fits?
- Tengo hambre.
- Tengo sed.
- Estoy lleno.
- Quiero postre.
Spanish uses tener for hunger. Tengo hambre means “I'm hungry.”
Tengo hambre. = I'm hungry.
You have breakfast at eight. Which sentence matches?
- Desayuno a las ocho.
- Almuerzo a las ocho.
- Ceno a las ocho.
- Meriendo a las ocho.
Desayunar means “to have breakfast.”
Desayuno a las ocho.
You want to know what is being served for lunch. What do you ask?
- ¿Qué hay para el almuerzo?
- ¿A qué hora cenamos?
- ¿Quieres un poco de postre?
- ¿Tienes sed?
¿Qué hay para el almuerzo? asks what food is available or being served for lunch.
¿Qué hay para el almuerzo?
You want to know what time everyone is having dinner. What do you ask?
- ¿A qué hora cenamos?
- ¿A qué hora desayunamos?
- ¿A qué hora almorzamos?
- ¿Qué hay para el almuerzo?
Cenamos comes from cenar, which means “to have dinner.”
¿A qué hora cenamos?
Someone offers you dessert, but you are full. Which response fits?
- No, gracias. Estoy lleno.
- Sí, tengo hambre.
- Tengo sed, gracias.
- Sí, quiero postre.
Estoy lleno means that you are full. Use llena if appropriate for the speaker.
No, gracias. Estoy lleno.
You want to wish someone an enjoyable meal. Which phrase fits?
- ¡Buen provecho!
- ¡A comer!
- Tengo hambre.
- Está delicioso.
¡Buen provecho! is a common expression used to wish someone an enjoyable meal.
¡Buen provecho! = Enjoy your meal!
Which two words can both refer to a midday meal depending on the region?
- almuerzo / comida
- desayuno / cena
- merienda / postre
- bebida / entrante
Almuerzo and comida can both refer to a midday meal depending on regional usage.
almuerzo / comida
Which word commonly refers to a light snack or small meal, often in the afternoon?
- merienda
- cena
- postre
- desayuno
Merienda commonly refers to a snack or small meal, often eaten in the afternoon.
merienda = snack / light meal