# 吃的什么 / 吃了什么



## jennychiu

"你午饭吃了什么"
"你午饭吃的什么"

Is there any difference between the two sentences in terms of meaning?

Thanks,
Jenny


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## SimonTsai

I can't think of any contexts in which I would say the second that you listed. It sounds wrong to me.

The first is asking, 'What did you eat for lunch?'


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## Skatinginbc

你午飯吃的什麼 is ambiguous as a standalone sentence.

Context #1:
A: 我午飯吃的棺材板，是臺灣著名小吃。
B: 你午飯吃的什麼?  棺材板? ==> What did you say you ate for lunch?

Context #2：
A: 你(平常)午飯吃的(是)什麼？ ==> What do you (usually) have for lunch?
B: 速食店快餐，譬如麥當勞的漢堡、肯德基的炸雞。

Context #3:
A: 我肚子疼，想吐。
B: 你(今天)午飯吃的(是)什麼？ What did you have for lunch (today)?


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## SuperXW

SimonTsai said:


> I can't think of any contexts in which I would say the second that you listed. It sounds wrong to me.
> 
> The first is asking, 'What did you eat for lunch?'


The second one is also common and idiomatic. Perhaps it is different in Taiwan?
It is stand for 你（的）午饭吃的（是）什么？ which means the same to the first sentence.
的 and 是 are omitted in the colloquial sentence.
And I don't think it is ambiguous. As a standalone sentence, I would accept it as #3 in Skatinginbc's list.


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## SimonTsai

To be honest with you, I have never heard that. It sounds odd to my ear. Maybe it is just for me.

In context 1, I might say, '我午餐吃的是棺材板。'

In context 2, I would expect, '你平常午餐都吃甚麼？'

In context 3, I think that I am much more inclined to ask, '你午餐吃了甚麼？'


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## Skatinginbc

SimonTsai said:


> In context 1, I might say, '我午餐吃的是棺材板。


But my context #1 was intended for a structure similar to this:
男子漢：我的另一半是今年的男網冠軍得主。
美嬌娘：你的什麼？ 另一半？
我午飯吃的棺材板 (like 我的另一半) as a whole serves as a noun phrase in Context #1.


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## jennychiu

Thanks all for the input. Much appreciated.

Jenny


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## RA-Horakthy

jennychiu said:


> "你午饭吃了什么"
> "你午饭吃的什么"
> 
> Is there any difference between the two sentences in terms of meaning?


They are the same. Just different ways of sayin it.


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> But my context #1 was intended for a structure similar to this:
> 男子漢：我的另一半是今年的男網冠軍得主。
> 美嬌娘：你的什麼？ 另一半？
> 我午飯吃的棺材板 (like 我的另一半) as a whole serves as a noun phrase in Context #1.


I don't see how they can be similar. 
你的什么： 正常的“的”字结构，表从属关系
午饭吃的什么：名词+动词+的，非从属关系

Here is a context I can think of which might be #1:
你午饭吃的什么，就给我吐出来什么。
However, I'll consider it a special context, while #3 is the normal one.
And it still means the same with 吃了什么 and 吃的是什么.


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> I don't see how they can be similar.


我是說：「我午飯吃的棺材板」在「我午飯吃的棺材板是台灣著名小吃」如同「我的另一半」在「我的另一半是今年的男網冠軍得主」，都是當主詞 (noun).  兩句結構都是：Subject (我午飯吃的棺材板，我的另一半) + linking verb (是)  + predicate nominative (台灣著名小吃，今年的男網冠軍得主).  這兩句結構類似。

問的結構也類似：
你的什麼？ 另一半？ ==> 「你的什麼」是名詞片語。
你午飯吃的什麼？ 棺材板？==> 「你午飯吃的什麼」這整串在 Context #1 是名詞片語。 結構類似 「你上月賺的錢」、「你家裡養的狗」、「你生日吃的蛋糕」，都是名詞片語。


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## SuperXW

你午饭吃的什么？ 我仍认为是普通疑问句，省略了“是”。这句子已经完整了，和片语无关，和你举的例子结构差异还是很大。
我举的例子：你午饭吃的什么，就给我吐出来什么。
这是陈述句，前半句也并不完整，这才可能有名词性片语一说。

我觉得你一开始就有点过度发散了。你讲的其实是”什么“的代词作用。如果这也算ambiguous，那”了“还是“的”都有这个问题啊。
你吃了什么
什么是台湾著名小吃
你什么饭吃的棺材板
照你分析，这些都会ambiguous吧……因为我们看到“什么”本身除了询问以外还有很多用法……“什么”字的解释 | 汉典
什么是台湾著名小吃！根本不是！
你什么饭吃的棺材板？别骗人了！
你看看！你午饭吃的什么？这也能下咽？——“什么”表示对对象质疑否定
无论你午饭吃了什么，你都会长胖。——“什么”泛指一切事物
……


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## albert_laosong

quite amusing, I don't know about Taiwan or HK, but in mainland China, it's most natural to say 中午你*吃的*什么？or 你中午*吃的*什么？no one will say 中午你*吃了*什么？because it sounds like you are having a stomachache, and a doctor or your mom is asking you what you had for lunch that may have caused it.

Based on what I can think of now, 吃的 is not used widely, it's most commonly used by a friend or someone to ask you informally what you had for lunch or breakfast etc, or one or two other contexts( 30年前，大家吃的都不好，一个月吃不上几次肉）, while 吃了can be used in many contexts.


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## Ghabi

albert_laosong said:


> it's most natural to say 中午你*吃的*什么？or 你中午*吃的*什么？no one will say 中午你*吃了*什么？because it sounds like you are having a stomachache, and a doctor or your mom is asking you what you had for lunch that may have caused it.


It's an excellent observation. (And welcome to the forum!)


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## albert_laosong

Thanks, very happy to join you guys


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## stephenlearner

jennychiu said:


> "你午饭吃了什么"   eat is a verb here.  What did you eat for lunch?
> "你午饭吃的（*东西是*）什么"   eat acts as an adjective: something* to eat*, something *that you ate*.  What (*were the things that*) you ate for lunch?



By the way, they don't have differences to me. Both can show the care of the person who asked; both can be used by a doctor to investigate the reason why you have a stomachache, although the first one is preferable to the second to a doctor.


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## QQTO

jennychiu said:


> "你午饭吃了什么"
> "你午饭吃的什么"
> 
> Is there any difference between the two sentences in terms of meaning?


Same just different ways saying it, the first one sounds more nature to me


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## albert_laosong

stephenlearner said:


> By the way, they don't have differences to me. Both can show the care of the person who asked; both can be used by a doctor to investigate the reason why you have a stomachache, although the first one is preferable to the second to a doctor.


So I think sometimes without a realistic context, the subtle difference won't even be obvious to native speakers. But of course when native speakers are in a real situation, it won't be a problem.

the context where 你中午吃的什么 sounds more natural than 你中午吃了什么 is when, for example, you see a co-worker in the office and just for informal chat, you ask casually, （你）中午吃的什么? I think it would be awkward to say (你)中午吃了什么 here。but it will become quite natural to me if it's changed to （你）中午吃了什么好吃的?   

then if the context is you have a stomachache and are being checked by a doctor,  both will be ok,  the difference is very small.  But in some more dramatic situations where the question is asked by a person in a quite emotional state, 吃了什么 might be more suitable than 吃的什么。Just I can't think of a good example right now.


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