料理 vs 食事
JLPT N5 vocabulary · what is the difference?
料理 is cooking, or a cooked dish — the food itself and the act of making it. 食事 is a meal as an occasion, the event of eating. So 料理をする means you are at the stove, while 食事をする means you are at the table.
When to use each
料理
りょうり
Use 料理 for the act of cooking, for a dish, and for a cuisine: 日本料理, 母の料理. If you are talking about what was made, how it tastes, or who made it, this is the word.
母の料理はとてもおいしいです。
ははのりょうりはとてもおいしいです。
My mother's cooking is delicious.
今晩は私が料理をします。
こんばんはわたしがりょうりをします。
I'll do the cooking tonight.
食事
しょくじ
Use 食事 for a meal as an occasion — having one, inviting someone to one, what happens before or after it. It is also a する verb, so 食事する means to eat a meal, never to cook one.
食事の前に手を洗ってください。
しょくじのまえにてをあらってください。
Please wash your hands before the meal.
今度一緒に食事しませんか。
こんどいっしょにしょくじしませんか。
Shall we have a meal together sometime?
Sentences where only one works
毎晩、夫が料理をします。
まいばん、おっとがりょうりをします。
My husband cooks every evening.
Making the food, so 料理. 食事をします would mean he merely eats it.
食事はもう済ませました。
しょくじはもうすませました。
I've already eaten.
The meal as an event you finish — 料理 cannot be used this way.
この店の料理はおいしいです。
このみせのりょうりはおいしいです。
The food at this restaurant is good.
Praising the dishes themselves, which is 料理.
食事に誘われました。
しょくじにさそわれました。
I was invited out for a meal.
An occasion you invite someone to, so 食事.
Common mistakes
昨日の夜、友達と料理をしました。
昨日の夜、友達と食事をしました。
料理をする is cooking. If you meant you went out to eat together, that is 食事をする — otherwise you have said you spent the evening in the kitchen.
母は食事が上手です。
母は料理が上手です。
Being good at this means being good at cooking. 食事が上手 would oddly praise her skill at eating.
Frequently asked questions
Can 食事 mean the food itself?
Somewhat — 食事を用意する is preparing the meal, including the food. But when you praise how something tastes, use 料理.
What about ご飯?
ご飯 is the casual everyday word for both cooked rice and a meal: ご飯を食べる. 食事 is the more formal way of naming the same occasion.
Is 料理 only for Japanese-style food?
No. 料理 takes any cuisine — イタリア料理, 中華料理 — and also just means the cooking someone does at home.