Why is there no article before "dinner"? I thought it needs article like "have A dinner."

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

There isn't an article before dinner because we do not use articles before meals. We only use articles before meals when there is an adjective placed before it. We use the article "the" before a meal when referring to a specific meal. There isn't an article used here because she is not talking about a particular dinner and she doesn't use an adjective before dinner. Ex: Dinner will be ready in an hour. Ex: Are you ready for lunch? Ex: What would you like for breakfast? Ex: I ate a late lunch. Ex: We had a light breakfast. Ex: She had an early dinner. Ex: The breakfast on the cruise was spectacular! Ex: The lunch we had at the restaurant was disgusting. Ex: The dinner at Hell's Kitchen was amazing.

How do native speakers use this expression?

Share this post

Popular Q&As

12/24

1
What is the difference between “crave” and “want”?
The difference between "crave" and "want" is that "crave" describes a stronger feeling. "Want" refers to desiring or wishing for something, while "crave" refers to desiring or wishing for something so strongly, you almost need it. "Crave" is commonly used to describe "craving" a certain type of food. Ex: I want to buy this bag, I love the color of it. Ex: I'm craving ramen tonight for dinner, I haven't had it in a long time.

2
"in my bedroom on my bedroom floor" sounds unnatural to me. Why's he repeating bedroom again?
Good question! The first time he says "bedroom" he uses it as a noun to refer his room that he sleeps in. The second time, it's used to describe a noun, in this case, the "floor;" the type of floor or what room the floor is in to give more context. Ex: I was at school in my school library. Ex: She wasn't at work during work hours.

3
The word "marry" means a marriage. And the word "merry" means happiness. Since these words have a similar pronunciation, are these words somewhat related?
That's an interesting question! I can see why you think they would be related, but they're actually completely different. "Marry" comes from Latin and French origins, whereas "merry" has Germanic origins. They just happen to be spelled similarly. Ex: Her laugh was merry and full of sincerity. Ex: Are you going to ask her to marry you?

4
Does the word "output" in this scenario has the same meaning as "ability"?
"Output" in this scenario means the amount of something someone produces. In baseball, a player's output would be their general positive performance in the game. This is a very niche version of this term. It's not commonly used in a sports setting. Ex: Jim's output at this office is wonderful. He gets the most work done. Ex: Railguns have meager output but high damage.

5
What does "of all" mean? and can you use "of all" at the last of the sentence?
"Of all" has the same meaning as "ever" or "in the world". The phrase "of all" is not complete, and is okay to include at the end of a sentence only because it implies that a noun or pronoun follows. In this situation, for example, the full sentence that is implied would be "the most magical fairy princess of all fairy princesses". "Fairy princesses" is implied in this sentence, but it is omitted because it's already known through the phrase "of all". So in this way, "of all" can mean "out of anyone" or "compared to anyone". Ex: You're the best teacher of all! Ex: It was the greatest birthday party of all.

Complete the expression with a quiz!