It's time to clear up the confusion for you guys (*?ω?), meal usually refers to a meal, is an uncountable noun, indicates the whole process of eating at one time, including the main course, side dishes, drinks, etc. Meals is the plural form of meal, indicates the sum of several meals, can be used to indicate all the meals in a day or a week. Here's a table summarizing their basics for you, so you can start with a brief understanding first:

After understanding the basics of meal and meals, it's time to look at their specific differences~(@^_^@)~

1, the difference in quantity

- meal usually refers to a meal. strong>- meal usually refers to a meal, is an uncountable noun, indicates the whole process of eating at one time, including the main food, side dishes, drinks, etc..

- meals, on the other hand, is the plural form of meal, which denotes the sum of multiple meals, and can be used to denote all meals eaten in a day or week.

Example sentences:

- I had a delicious meal at the new restaurant downtown.

- The hotel offers three meals a day for its guests.

2. Difference in Usage

- meal usually appears as a separate noun, which can be used to modify other words, such as "breakfast meal", " lunch meal", etc.

- meals, on the other hand, is usually found as a plural noun, and can be used in conjunction with other words, such as "meals plan" and "meals delivery".

Example sentences:

- The restaurant serves a variety of meal options for breakfast.

- The company provides meals delivery service for its employees.

3. Grammatical differences

- meal, as an uncountable noun, usually does not carry an article, but it can be used in conjunction with some quantifiers, such as "a bowl of meal", " a plate of meal", etc.

- meals as a countable noun, usually with articles or quantifiers, such as "two meals a day", "the meals of the week ".

Example sentences:

- She cooked a delicious meal for us.

- We usually have three meals a day.