飯が食えない · i-adjective
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 飯が食えない | 飯が食えなくない |
| Polite | 飯が食えないです | 飯が食えなくないですalso 飯が食えなくありません |
| Past polite | 飯が食えなかったです | 飯が食えなくなかったですalso 飯が食えなくありませんでした |
| Past | 飯が食えなかった | 飯が食えなくなかった |
| Te-form | 飯が食えなくて | 飯が食えなくなくて |
| Adverbial | 飯が食えなく | |
| Conditional | 飯が食えなければ | 飯が食えなくなければ |
| Tara conditional | 飯が食えなかったら | 飯が食えなくなかったら |
cannot make a living; can't earn a living
Idiomatic expression meaning one cannot earn enough to live on; literally 'cannot eat rice/meals'. Often used in negative potential form.
I can't possibly make a living on this salary.
I can't earn a living from art alone, so I have a side job.
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling for this idiomatic expression.
Kana for 飯 is common in casual writing.
Literally 'cannot eat rice/meals', where 飯 (めし) is a colloquial term for a meal or rice, and 食えない is the negative potential form of 食う (to eat). The phrase figuratively means being unable to sustain oneself financially.