asameshi mae lit. ‘before breakfast’
Japanese idiom, everyday. Something is very easy to do.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Japanese speaker.
How do people use 朝飯前
?
Everyday and a bit boastful: you say it about something you can do without effort, often with そんなの or そんなこと in front (“そんなの朝飯前だよ”). It works as a noun with だ/です, or with の before another noun (“朝飯前の仕事”, a before-breakfast job). Polite speech is fine, though bragging to your boss with it can sound cocky.
Also said 朝飯前の仕事, 朝飯前だ
朝飯前
in real sentences
-
そんなの朝飯前だよ。
Sonna no asameshi mae da yo.
It’s a piece of cake.
Tatoeba, sentence by tommy_san, translation by Eldad, CC BY 2.0 FR
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コツさえ覚えれば、朝飯前ですよ。
Kotsu sae oboereba, asameshi mae desu yo.
It’s a snap once you get the hang of it.
Tatoeba, sentence by bunbuku, translation by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does 朝飯前
come from?
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (via Kotobank) dates the plain time sense to a 1681 haikai collection by Ihara Saikaku, and the “easy job” sense to the comic story Hasshōjin (1820 to 1849). The Daijisen gives two readings of the picture: a task so light you can do it on an empty stomach before eating, or one that takes no longer than the gap before breakfast. Neither source settles which is right.
Mistakes learners make with 朝飯前
Using 朝ご飯前 or 朝食前. They only mean “before breakfast” in time, and the idiom is fixed with the rough word 飯.
Other Japanese idioms like 朝飯前
Spot a mistake in 朝飯前
?
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