How do you say it in Italian?
Mangiamo!
Mangiamo!
Let’s eat!
If you are familiar with Italian verb tenses, you will probably already know the present tense conjugation of the verb mangiare, meaning “to eat”, as shown below.
Present tense conjugation for mangiare
| io | mangio |
| tu | mangi |
| lui, lei | mangia |
| noi | mangiamo |
| voi | mangiate |
| loro | mangiano |
For example, you can say:
A che ora mangiate di solito?
What time do you usually eat?
Cosa mangiano le cavallette?
What do grasshoppers eat?
Why did I highlight the noi (we) conjugation here? That’s because the Italian imperative for the first person plural “we” works a bit differently than in English.
In English we say let us… eat/start/finish/read. In Italian, you just conjugate the main verb (to eat, in our case) in its imperative mood.
The imperative noi conjugation of any verb matches the noi present tense conjugation of that same verb. Take a look at the table below and see for yourself.
Imperative tense conjugation for mangiare
| io | — |
| tu | mangia! |
| lui, lei | mangi! |
| noi | mangiamo! |
| voi | mangiate! |
| loro | mangino! |
That’s why we translate let’s eat in Italian as mangiamo!
How do you distinguish between imperative and present tense? Context is key:
Mamma, stasera mangiamo fuori. Non ci aspettare per l’ora di cena!
Mom, we are going out to eat tonight. Don’t wait for us for dinner time!
(Mangiare fuori = To go out to eat)
Mangiamo fuori, ragazzi!
Let’s go out to eat, guys!
In the first example, the speaker tells their parents that they’ll not be coming back for dinner. The sentence conveys a piece of information, not an order.
In the second sentence, the speaker makes a suggestion. The Italian verb is actually conjugated in the imperative mood here, which coincidentally matches the present tense conjugation of the same verb.
Common expressions with to eat in Italian
Let’s wrap up this lesson with a few common expressions featuring the verb mangiare in Italian.
Mio figlio mangia troppo velocemente.
My son eats too fast.
Cosa mangi per cena stasera?
What are you having for dinner tonight?
Giorgia ed Enrico mangiano spesso al ristorante.
Giorgia and Enrico often eat at restaurants.
Non riesco ad abbandonare il vizio di mangiarmi le unghie.
I can’t seem to give up the habit of biting my nails.
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!
❤️ If you liked this lesson on how to say let’s eat in Italian, share it with your friends!