外食 and 自炊: Eating out and cooking for oneself
Compare a decision to eat out, a wish to eat at home, and weekday cooking. Keep the meal-preparation focus of 自炊 separate from the number of people eating.
An 外食 decision and a later wish
「給料日なので、家族で外食することにした。」 — “It is payday, so we decided to eat out as a family.” 外食することにした reports deciding to eat out with the family. Payday is the stated context for the decision, and a completed meal is not reported.
「外食が続いたので、今夜は家で野菜をたくさん食べたい。」 — “I have been eating out repeatedly, so tonight I want to eat plenty of vegetables at home.” 外食が続いた describes repeated eating out, whereas 食べたい expresses a wish for tonight. Those two clauses have different temporal and modal scopes.
Preparing one’s own food
「節約のため、平日はできるだけ自炊している。」 — “To save money, I cook for myself as much as possible on weekdays.” 自炊している names cooking for oneself. 平日はできるだけ limits the repeated practice, and 節約のため gives the person’s purpose.
「一人暮らしを始めてから、自炊の楽しさを覚えた。」 — “After I began living alone, I discovered the pleasure of cooking for myself.” The enjoyment learned after starting to live alone concerns 自炊. Living alone is the background; it is not the lexical definition of cooking for oneself.
Who cooks and who eats
外食 focuses on eating a meal provided outside, while 自炊 focuses on preparing one’s own meal. 自炊 alone does not establish that only one person eats the food.
Read the family outing as a decision, tonight’s home meal as a wish, and weekday cooking as a practice limited by できるだけ. Location, the preparation subject, and modality all matter.
Does 自炊 in 「一人暮らしを始めてから、自炊の楽しさを覚えた」 mean always eating alone?
Show the answer and why
No. 自炊 names cooking for oneself, while 一人暮らし supplies the living situation after which its enjoyment was learned. The sentence does not say that self-prepared food is always eaten alone.