1911
I have seen many ways of saying 'food'. I am wondering if there is ever a
difference in appropriateness.

食品、食べ物、～物(type+物)、飯、ご飯、etc.

Most commonly, I think, is 食べ物, but I thought I'd use 食品 for an assignment
involving 敬語（けいご）since it sounded more formal to me.

Thoughts?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-07-14T01:09:28.820
1909
2019-03-21T06:15:59.040
459
question
word-choice food
Most appropriate word for 'food'
食べ物 - appropriate as written or spoken language, a basic word, commonly used
in speech

食品 - food product, think of a packaged food product on a shelf in the store

ご飯 - literally rice (polite), used to refer to "a meal" as in breakfast, lunch
or dinner

食事 - a meal, frequently used in hotels and restaurants as 「お[食事]{しょくじ}」

〜物 - assuming you mean 揚げ物 (fried food), 煮物 (boiled food), 干物 (dried food),
etc... these are self explanatory, just more specific.

**Also don't forget:**

[食物]{しょくもつ} - Mostly in written language, "food stuffs" is a good English
equivalent

And just to whet your appetite (pun definitely intended) here is a breakdown
of common food categories.

**Animal Food Products (動物性食品)**

[肉類]{にくるい} (meat, incl. poultry), [魚介類]{ぎょかいるい} (seafood), [卵類]{らんるい} (eggs),
[乳製品]{にゅうせいひん} (dairy)

**Plant Food Products (植物性食品)**

[穀物]{こくもつ} (cereals), [豆類]{まめるい} (pulses), [芋類]{いもるい} (tubers), [野菜]{やさい}
(vegetables), [山菜]{さんさい} (mountain vegetables), [海藻]{かいそう} (sea vegetation,
seaweed), [種実類]{しゅじつるい} (aw nuts), [果物]{くだもの} (fruits), ハーブ (herbs)

(ref: <http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A3%9F%E5%93%81>)
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2011-07-14T01:49:51.373
1911
2019-03-21T06:15:59.040
2019-03-21T06:15:59.040
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answer
For different contexts, here are a few more:

>   * [料理]{りょう・り} → food/cuisine → 日本料理、料理を作る、など
>   * [食料]{しょく・りょう} → food, groceries → 食料品 (foodstuffs/groceries)、食料費 (food
> expenses)
>   * [糧]{かて}・[食糧]{しょく・りょう} → food (supply), provisions → [食糧不足]{しょく・りょう・ぶ・そく}
> (food shortage)
>
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2011-07-14T03:00:42.047
1915
2017-09-13T23:15:18.317
2017-09-13T23:15:18.317
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answer