thank you for the meal; that was delicious
Polite expression used after eating to thank the person who prepared or paid for the meal. Also said when leaving a restaurant. The past tense でした is standard, though ごちそうさま (present) is used casually.
I said 'thank you for the meal' and left the table.
Thank you so much for tonight's dinner; it was truly delicious.
Said before a meal to express gratitude for the food; ごちそうさまでした is said after finishing.
Casual form of ごちそうさまでした, used among friends and family.
いただきます is said before eating to give thanks for the food, while ご馳走様でした is said after finishing to thank for the meal.
ご馳走様でした is the standard, slightly more polite past-tense form, while ご馳走様 is the casual version used among friends and family.
Standard polite kanji spelling; commonly seen in formal contexts and on signs.
Formal kanji spelling using 御; rarely used in modern writing.
Variant spelling with さま in kana; less common than the standard kanji form.
From ご (honorific prefix) + 馳走 (ちそう, 'running about', referring to the effort of preparing a meal) + 様 (さま, honorific suffix) + でした (polite past copula). The phrase literally acknowledges the effort put into the meal.