# Кушать или Есть



## ChaosPhoenix7

Both of these verbs mean to eat. Am I making a mistake here, or do they really mean the same thing? Are there formality differences? When do you use one or the other? Thanks.


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## Sobakus

Кушать is considered by some as either colloquial or slightly obsolete, doesn't seem that to me. But it sure has a colloquial shade and more often refers to the process of eating. Я ем каждый день/Я кушаю сейчас/Я люблю покушать. Есть is, on the other hand, as neutral as it gets.


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## Ben Jamin

Sobakus said:


> Кушать is considered by some as either colloquial or slightly obsolete, doesn't seem that to me. But it sure has a colloquial shade and more often refers to the process of eating. Я ем каждый день/Я кушаю сейчас/Я люблю покушать. Есть is, on the other hand, as neutral as it gets.


 Isn't 'Кушать' related to 'кусать' ?


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## estreets

I have found an interesting fragment for a book by a Russian writer on this topic. His reflections may be of interest, I suppose.
"The same [misuse in inppropriate situations] happens to some woods – for example, to the word кушать. It’s a ‘dress-up’ word.
If when announcing dinner a hostess says: “Дорогие гости! Пожалуйте кушать (Dear guests! Come in to eat!) it’s quite appropriate. indeed, she really can’t say: “А ну, давайте есть!” (Well, let’s eat!)
But when this hostess says about herself “Я покушала” (I have had a meal) without addressing her guests it would be perceived as silly putting on frills. It’s even more absurd and ridiculous when a male says about himself in this mawkish – ‘self-respectful’ manner."

So IMHO кушать seems to be more polite and elevated and is mostly used when speaking in solemn situations or to children, for example.
And есть is used much more often.


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## Maroseika

Ben Jamin said:


> Isn't 'Кушать' related to 'кусать' ?


Etymologically - yes, it is. But not semantically nowadays.


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## Ben Jamin

Maroseika said:


> Etymologically - yes, it is. But not semantically nowadays.


 Well, when you eat, you bite, chew and swallow, so it's not so far away.


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## dec-sev

> if when announcing dinner a hostess says: “Дорогие гости! Пожалуйте кушать (dear guests! Come in to eat!) it’s quite appropriate


Я всегда считал (и пока продолжаю считать ), что лучше сказать "прошу к столу", а "кушать подано" звучит для меня как-то... ну не знаю. В кино фразу слышал, а в жизни -- не припомню. 



> but when this hostess says about herself “Я покушала” (i have had a meal) whitouth addressing her guests it would be perceived as silly putting on frills. It’s even more absurd and ridiculous when a male says about himself in this mawkish – ‘self-respectful’ manner."


То есть "я покушала" от женщины можно приравнять к перлу про блондинок, ну а от мужика это просто нелепо и недопустимо. Что это за книга? Правила этикета для чайников?



estreets said:


> so imho кушать seems to be more polite and elevated and is mostly used when speaking in solemn situations or to children, for example.
> and есть is used much more often.


 Я вообще от взрослого никогда не слышал "я хочу кушать", только от детей, и не представляю себе торжественной ситуации, в которой можно было бы употребить "кушать". Хотя я здесь не эксперт -- самые торжественные события, на которых я присутствовал -- это свадьбы и поминки. 
Интересно, как приглашали к  столу участников встречи Путина с творческой интеллигенцией в Петербурге? Ну там когда Юлианыч выпил минералки за новую Россию


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## estreets

to dec-sev
"Правильно ли мы говорим", Борис Тимофеев(Еропкин).
Рекомендую.


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## elemika

Есть чудесное выражение -  "Очень кушать хочется!" 
 "Хочется поесть" звучит не так (не так жалобно?)


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## dec-sev

estreets said:


> to dec-sev
> "Правильно ли мы говорим", Борис Тимофеев(Еропкин).
> Рекомендую.


У меня есть знакомая, которая считала, и наверное продолжает считать, что "я хочу кушать" -- это "детское" выражение. У неё даже дочка (не помню сколько ей тогда было лет, но буквы она еще не все хорошо произносила) говорила: "Мама, я гоёдная!!!" 
Интересно в каких торжественных (я так понял "solemn ") случаях автор рекомендует использовать "кушать".


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## estreets

dec-sev said:


> У меня есть знакомая, которая считала, и наверное продолжает считать, что "я хочу кушать" -- это "детское" выражение. У неё даже дочка (не помню сколько ей тогда было лет, но буквы она еще не все хорошо произносила) говорила: "Мама, я гоёдная!!!"
> Интересно в каких торжественных (я так понял "solemn ") случаях автор рекомендует использовать "кушать".


http://www.gramota.ru/spravka/trudnosti/36_143


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## dec-sev

> Употребление *кушать* в 1 лице единственного числа настоящего времени (_я кушаю_) или в прошедшем времени (_я кушал_) допустимо только в речи детей и женщин



Если бы это не было на грамоте ру, то я бы подумал, что это шутка. 
На торжественном обеде в Екатеринбурге Ангела Меркел кушала окрошку, Медведев ел бананы. А _Федот_-стрелец ел соленый огурец


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## morzh

As a minimum, in the 1-st person using "кушать" is considered a sign of illiteracy.
I am not sure about other persons.

Кушать - is a very good word, (like in Elemika's example) but with limited usage. So is "кушанье" (a dish, a prepared food).
Есть - is a universal word for "eat".



Ben Jamin said:


> Well, when you eat, you bite, chew and swallow,  so it's not so far away.



Yes it is far away. I understand that your primary language is also Slavic, but Polish and Russian are not that close so you really could argue with a literate Russian person about closeness of the words.
Imagine me telling you that "uroda" cannot mean "beautifull" in Polish because in Russian it means "ugly", and teh root is the same.


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## Sobakus

Ну знаете, с такими нормами я знаться не изволю  Если "не подскажете, где метро" и "Иван Иванович подойдет где-то часов в десять" - нарушения нормы, то я - кубинский пряник. Я уж не говорю про вышеозначенную шутку.. Воистину, crazy Russian scientists


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## morzh

dec-sev said:


> Я всегда считал (и пока продолжаю считать ), что лучше сказать "прошу к столу"
> Интересно, как приглашали к  столу участников встречи Путина с творческой интеллигенцией в Петербурге? Ну там когда Юлианыч выпил минералки за новую Россию




Да вот я подозреваю, что сегодня "прошу к столу" (в неформальных ситуациях - "давайте к столу", "давайте сядем") - довольно универсальное приглашение. Я, если честно, другие торжественные приглашения, кроме как в кино, так и не слышал вовсе.


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## Maroseika

Ben Jamin said:


> Well, when you eat, you bite, chew and swallow, so it's not so far away.


Sure. But I don't think modern natives feel any connection here.


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## bibax

It reminds me of the Romance languages: manger, mangiare is from Latin mandere or manducare which means to manducate/chew, but in Vulgar Latin it replaced the "correct" verb edere (Spanish preserved it in comeder).

BTW, some forms of Latin edere are quite similar to Slavic, e.g. imperative es!, este! (with long e) = eat!.

BTW2, when I was in the Carpathian region of the former USSR (aka Podkarpatská Rus of former Czechoslovakia), I heard _*Kушай, кушай!*_ many times in a day. I know they were mostly Rusyns and Hungarians but they spoke Russian quite well.


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## Sobakus

If you hear кушай, the speaker's likely to kindly welcome you to eat, but ешь is often used in categorical and sometimes rude commands like "ешь давай!"(eat already!).


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## dec-sev

bibax said:


> It reminds me of the Romance languages: manger, mangiare is from Latin mandere or manducare which means to manducate/chew, but in Vulgar Latin it replaced the "correct" verb edere (Spanish preserved it in comeder).


 What does "it" refer to? To "manducate/chew"? Do you mean that "comeder" means "to chew" in Spanish? I've never heard the word. This doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist, but RAE doesn't contain it.
BMW  What on this thread reminds you of Romance languages? You say one word was replaced by another one there. If you think that in Russian "кушать" at some point was replaced by "есть"... well, I don't know. To me these are two words existing in modern Russian; the choice of the word to use depends on the situation.


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## bibax

I suppose that "кушать" has evolved from "кусать" which is a Panslavic word (in Czech kousati) and means _to chew_. The Protoslavic word for "to eat" is *ěmь(< *edmi)/*ěsti (in Czech jím/jísti) and is related to the Latin verb edere (= to eat). Both ěsti and edere are athematic verbs. Vulgar Latin tended to replace all athematic verbs by regular verbs, for example edere (to eat) by manducare (to chew). It seems that the same process occured in Russian (perhaps in all East Slavic languages) but was not completed. In some situations "кушать" (< "кусать") replaced "eсть".



> Do you mean that "comeder" means "to chew" in Spanish? I've never heard the word. This doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist, but RAE doesn't contain it.


Sorry, my mistake. In Spanish "to eat" is *comer* from Latin comedere (like ver is from Latin videre).


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## Dmitry_86

ChaosPhoenix7 said:


> Both of these verbs mean to eat. Am I making a mistake here, or do they really mean the same thing? Are there formality differences? When do you use one or the other? Thanks.



Yes, you are right, they both mean "to eat". The word "кушать" is conversational (colloquial) and it is what grandparents or parents are likely to say to their children when they want to show that they love them and take care of them. Very rarely have I heard this word used to talk to adults and even teenagers. Also doctors may sometimes use this word when they are prescribing a particular diet or telling you that it would be better to avoid some products. 

The word "есть" is more neutral and can be used in almost any context.


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## dec-sev

bibax said:


> I suppose that "кушать" has evolved from "кусать" which is a Panslavic word (in Czech kousati) and means _to chew_. The Protoslavic word for "to eat" is *ěmь(< *edmi)/*ěsti (in Czech jím/jísti) and is related to the Latin verb edere (= to eat). Both ěsti and edere are athematic verbs. Vulgar Latin tended to replace all athematic verbs by regular verbs, for example edere (to eat) by manducare (to chew).


 Thanks for clearing it up.


Dmitry_86 said:


> ... Also doctors may sometimes use this word when they are prescribing a particular diet or telling you that it would be better to avoid some products.


 Обычный доктор: Воздержитесь от японской кухни, ешьте побольше фруктов. 
Любящий детей педиатришн: Не кушайте японские суши – лучше кушайте джанкойские груши


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## morzh

Seems to me like the Russian idiom that can be loosely translated as "grinding water in a mortar" describes this discussion more and more accurately as it proceeds.


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