What's more common to say I ate breakfast, lunch or dinner

Question

In your experience what's more common for native speakers to say, "I ate breakfast, lunch or dinner today" ? Do they use comer as in "Yo comi el desayuno esta mañana?" Or do they use the verbs desayunar, almozar and cenar to express the idea? For example using the other sentence, "Yo desayuné esta mañana". Thanks

Answer 1

I would use:

Desayuné

Almorcé

Cené or Comí (Some countries call dinner comida instead of cena. Don't know why. But they do)

However, if you want to specify what you actually ate in each meal, you could say:

Comí tostadas con miel en el desayuno or Desayuné tostadas con miel.

Me comí una hamburguesa en el almuerzo. Almorcé una hamburguesa.

Comimos paella para la cena. Cenamos paella.

Answer 2

"I lunched" - "I dined" are also normal in English these days.

"I breakfasted" I don't think I have ever heard.

Probably because the word actually means "to end a fast"

Answer 3

Desayunar means to have breakfast. Almorzar means to have lunch. Cenar means to have dinner. Yo desayuné esta mañana. I had breakfast this morning. That is what I have learned. Hopefully, someone else will help you more.

Good, I see Franco answered the question better than I could have. - 0083f5dc, Jun 12, 2013

I liked your answer too. - francobollo, Jun 12, 2013

Thanks. I have learned a lot with your answers and translations. - 0083f5dc, Jun 12, 2013

Answer 4

As Franco says, just a further comment:

Tomar desayuno is frequently used as well: Tomé desayuno en casa.

About lunch, at least in Spain, you mostly just say ' comer'. The lunchtime meal is often refered to as ' la comida' , rather than el almuerzo, which sounds like a more formal occasion. Comí en un bar ayer. I had lunch/ lunched in a bar yesterday.

The French have a great approach to this. They say animals eat. Humans have breakfast, lunch or dinner. - francobollo, Jun 13, 2013

Good point, Annie. Just like Spaniards may use comida instead of almuerzo some other countries use comida instead of cena. I stick to the basics: desayunar, almorzar y cenar. - francobollo, Jun 13, 2013

Yes, I think it's very differrent in S America! especially as la comida in Spain isn't served until about 3 pm. - annierats, Jun 13, 2013