hitori de bangohan wo taberu to sukosi sabisii desu.

I feel a little lonely when I eat dinner alone.

Breakdown of hitori de bangohan wo taberu to sukosi sabisii desu.

• です: to be
• を: direct object particle
• 食たべる: to eat
• 晩ばんご飯はん: dinner
• と: conditional particle
• 少すこし: a little
• 一人ひとり で: by oneself
• 寂さびしい: lonely

Questions & Answers about hitori de bangohan wo taberu to sukosi sabisii desu.

In this sentence, which part is expressing the idea of “when”?

The “when” meaning comes from the pattern:

食べる + と + 寂しい

Dictionary-form verb + と can mean “when/whenever (someone does X), then Y happens.”

So:

• 晩ご飯を食べると = when/whenever (I) eat dinner
• 少し寂しいです = (I) feel a bit lonely

The particle と here is not “and”; it’s a kind of conditional (“when/if”) that describes a natural/resulting situation.

Why is 食べる in plain (dictionary) form, even though the sentence ends with です?

Before と in this type of conditional (“when/whenever … then …”), the verb almost always appears in dictionary/plain form:

• 食べると (when I eat)
• 行くと (when I go)
• 雨が降ると (when it rains)

This is true even in polite sentences that end in です／ます. So:

• 一人で晩ご飯を食べると少し寂しいです。
  is perfectly natural: plain form before と, then polite form (です) at the end.

You would not usually say 食べますと in this everyday “when/whenever” sense.

What does the particle で after 一人 do here? Why is it 一人で?

The particle で in 一人で marks the means / manner / state in which an action is done.

Common uses of で:

• at a place: 学校で勉強する – study at school
• using a tool/means: バスで行く – go by bus
• in a group / alone: 友達とで行く, 一人で行く – go with friends / alone

So 一人で晩ご飯を食べる literally means “to eat dinner in the state of being one person”, i.e. “to eat dinner alone / by oneself.”

Using 一人は or 一人が would focus on “one person” as the topic/subject, not the manner. Here we want how we eat (alone), so で is correct.

Is 一人 the subject here? Where is the “I” in the Japanese sentence?

There is no explicit “I” in the sentence; Japanese often omits the subject when it is clear from context.

Grammatically:

• 一人で = adverbial phrase (manner: “alone”)
• 晩ご飯を = direct object (“dinner”)
• 食べる = verb (“to eat”)
• と = conditional particle (“when/whenever”)
• 少し寂しいです = “(it / I) am a little lonely”

The implicit subject of both 食べる and 寂しいです is understood to be “I” or “the speaker” from context.

But strictly speaking, it can also be interpreted more generally as:

• “When one eats dinner alone, (one) feels a bit lonely.”

Japanese leaves this flexibility on purpose.

What is the role of を after 晩ご飯?

The particle を marks the direct object of a verb – the thing the action is done to.

Here:

• 晩ご飯を食べる
  
  • 晩ご飯 – dinner
  • を – object marker
  • 食べる – to eat

So it literally means “to eat dinner.”

In casual spoken Japanese, people may sometimes drop を and say:

• 一人で晩ご飯食べると少し寂しい

but in careful or written Japanese, を should be included.

Why is it 少し寂しいです and not something like 寂しい少しです?

In Japanese, adverbs (like 少し, とても, あまり) usually go before the adjective or verb they modify.

So:

• 少し寂しい – a little lonely
• とても寂しい – very lonely
• 少し寒い – a little cold
• 少し食べる – eat a little

Putting it as 寂しい少しです is unnatural; Japanese word order for this is:

[adverb] + [adjective] + です
少し寂しいです = “(I) am a bit lonely.”

Why does the sentence end with です instead of だ or nothing at all?

です is the polite copula (linking word, like “am/is/are”) used with adjectives and nouns in polite speech.

• 寂しいです – polite: “(I) am lonely.”
• 寂しい。 – plain: “(I) am lonely.”
• 寂しいだ。 – incorrect (na-adjectives take だ; 寂しい is an i-adjective)

So:

• 一人で晩ご飯を食べると少し寂しいです。 – polite, suitable for most normal situations.
• 一人で晩ご飯を食べると少し寂しい。 – plain/casual, used with friends, diary, etc.

Using です makes the whole sentence sound polite and a bit softer.

What is the difference between using と here and using とき or たら (e.g. 食べるとき, 食べたら)?

All of these can relate to “when/if”, but with different nuances.

1. Verb-dictionary-form + と

   • Describes a natural / automatic result or a habitual outcome.
   • 一人で晩ご飯を食べると少し寂しいです。
     = Whenever I eat dinner alone, I (naturally) feel a bit lonely.

2. 食べるとき

   • Literally “when (I) eat / when (I am) eating.”
   • Emphasizes the time something else happens.
   • 一人で晩ご飯を食べるとき、少し寂しいです。
     = At the time when I eat dinner alone, I feel a bit lonely.
     This is also correct and natural; it feels a bit more focused on the time frame.

3. 食べたら

   • たら is a more general “if/when/after” conditional.
   • Often used for one-time events or personal reactions.
   • 一人で晩ご飯を食べたら、少し寂しくなります。
     = If/when I eat dinner alone, I (then) become a bit lonely.

In this sentence, と nicely expresses a repeated, typical feeling that naturally occurs whenever that condition is met.

Could I say 一人で晩ご飯を食べるのは少し寂しいです instead? What is the difference?

Yes, that sentence is also natural, and the nuance is slightly different.

• 一人で晩ご飯を食べると少し寂しいです。

  • Conditional/result: “When I eat dinner alone, I feel a bit lonely.”
  • Focus: situation → resulting feeling (whenever that situation happens).

• 一人で晩ご飯を食べるのは少し寂しいです。

  • Using のは nominalizes the verb phrase, turning it into a topic:
    
    • 一人で晩ご飯を食べるの = “eating dinner alone (the act of)”
  • So it means: “Eating dinner alone is a little lonely.”
  • Focus: treating “eating dinner alone” as a general fact / concept that is lonely.

Both are fine; と emphasizes the condition and its result, and のは emphasizes a general judgment about that activity.

How do you read 寂しい, and is there a difference between さびしい and さみしい?

寂しい can be read as:

• さびしい (sabishii) – dictionary/standard form
• さみしい (samishii) – very commonly used in speech

In modern Japanese:

• Both pronunciations are acceptable, and the meaning is the same.
• さみしい often sounds a bit softer and more colloquial, but it’s widely used even by adults in polite contexts.

So your sentence can be read as:

• ひとりで ばんごはんを たべる と すこし さみしいです。
  or
• ひとりで ばんごはんを たべる と すこし さびしいです。

What is the difference between 晩ご飯, 夕ご飯, and 夕食?

All can refer to “dinner / evening meal,” but they differ in formality and frequency.

• 晩ご飯（ばんごはん）

  • Very common, everyday, slightly casual.
  • Used in conversation, especially in families:
    
    • 晩ご飯、何食べる？ – What are we having for dinner?

• 夕ご飯（ゆうごはん）

  • Also everyday and casual, similar to 晩ご飯.
  • Some people prefer one over the other; both are natural.

• 夕食（ゆうしょく）

  • More formal/polite or written style.
  • Used in announcements, menus, hotels, etc.:
    
    • 夕食は６時からです。 – Dinner is from 6 o’clock.

In your sentence, 晩ご飯 is very natural for conversational Japanese.

Is this sentence natural? How might people say it casually in conversation?

Yes, 一人で晩ご飯を食べると少し寂しいです。 is perfectly natural, polite Japanese.

Casual variants you might hear:

• 一人で晩ご飯食べるとちょっと寂しい。
• 一人で晩ご飯食べるの、ちょっと寂しい。
• 一人で晩ご飯って、ちょっと寂しいよね。

Changes you can see:

• dropping を and sometimes particles in casual speech
• using ちょっと instead of 少し
• ending without です (plain form)
• adding よね to seek agreement: “you know, right?”

What is the difference between 一人で and phrases like 一人の晩ご飯 or 一人は?

They focus on slightly different things.

1. 一人で + verb

   • Describes the manner: doing something alone / by oneself.
   • 一人で晩ご飯を食べる – eat dinner alone.

2. 一人の + noun

   • 一人 modifies a noun.
   • 一人の晩ご飯 can mean something like “a dinner for one / a solitary dinner.”
   • Sounds more like a noun phrase, a bit literary or descriptive.

3. 一人は

   • 一人 as the topic with は.
   • Could be used in contrasts like:
     
     • みんなで食べるのは楽しいけど、一人は少し寂しいです。
       – Eating with everyone is fun, but being alone is a bit lonely.

In your sentence, we want to describe how the action is done (eating by oneself), so 一人で晩ご飯を食べる is the most natural.

What is the nuance difference between 少し and ちょっと here?

Both can mean “a little / a bit”, but their feel is slightly different.

• 少し

  • Slightly more neutral or formal.
  • Common in writing and polite speech.
  • 少し寂しいです。 is polite and straightforward.

• ちょっと

  • Very common in casual speech.
  • Can feel a bit softer or more conversational.
  • 一人で晩ご飯を食べるとちょっと寂しいです。 is also natural and slightly more colloquial.

Meaning-wise, they’re very close here; choosing one or the other mostly affects the tone (more formal vs more conversational).