Meaning & use
tapas food
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Meanings
noununcountable
Small savory dishes served in Spain, usually eaten with drinks and often shared by several people.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun when talking about the food in general: we ordered tapas food for the table.
Patterns
- order tapas food
- serve tapas food
- tapas food bar
The new restaurant on the corner serves tapas food with wine in the evening.
We shared a plate of tapas food before the main course arrived.
Tapas food is meant to be eaten slowly, a few bites at a time.
noununcountable
A style of eating based on many small shared plates rather than one large main dish.
Grammar: Talks about the custom or style of eating, not one particular dish: tapas food is a way of dining.
Patterns
- tapas-style food
- a tapas food menu
Their wedding reception featured tapas food instead of a seated dinner.
Tapas food works well for parties because guests can try many things.
Common combinations
- tapas bar
- We found a tiny tapas bar near the beach.
- order tapas
- Let's order several tapas and share them.
- a plate of tapas
- She brought out a plate of tapas with olives and cheese.
- tapas menu
- The tapas menu changes every week.
- go for tapas
- On Fridays we often go for tapas after work.
Synonyms and how they differ
- appetizers
- American English for small dishes before a meal; tapas are often a whole meal rather than a starter.
- meze
- The Middle Eastern and Greek equivalent; similar idea of shared small plates, but different dishes and region.
- small plates
- A general restaurant term for shareable dishes; it describes the serving style without naming Spanish food.
Word family
- tapas noun
- The usual short form in English for these small Spanish dishes.
Commonly confused: tapas food or tapa?
tapas food vs tapa
In Spanish a tapa is one single small dish or a lid; English speakers almost always use the plural tapas for the food.
Practice
Which sentence uses the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
"Tapas food" works as an uncountable noun, so it takes a singular verb: tapas food is served. Option 1 is wrong because the uncountable noun does not take "a," and option 4 wrongly makes it plural with "a ... foods."
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tapas food”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.