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Glite Dictionary
to invite to dinner

to invite to dinner

3 1.2
Ask someone to join you for an evening meal
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : invitar a cenar
  • She was polite to them, but they were never invited to dinner with our crowd.
  • get invited to dinner
  • friends to invite to dinner
  • never invited to dinner

Examples

  • Who else didn't we invite to dinner?

    See How They Run (2022)

  • He wasn't doing any of this to impress, he told himself, just to be polite when one is invited to dinner.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I was invited to dinner.

    Bound & Babysitting (2015)

  • I think you should be more careful about whom you invite to dinner!

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I've been invited to dinner.

    Fort Apache (1948)

  • Sometimes, old boyhood friends of the Don were invited to dinner and a game of cards.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • No one replied to this, but I began to wonder if my being invited to dinner was entirely a friendly gesture.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Orlando, I'm sure that you've been invited to dinner in a typical American home.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I was part of a small group that was invited to dinner at Samba that night, which brought me the good fortune of enjoying a sampling of several menu items.

    Blog text (31)

  • I was invited to dinner by my neighbor, and I was excited to try her famous lasagna.

Synonyms

to come on over
vsto invite to dinner
  • Informal
70 2.6

To go to someone's home when they invite you to visit

is about requesting someone to share an evening meal rather than going
to invite out
vsto invite to dinner
  • Informal
12 3.1

To ask someone to go with you to a social event like dinner, often as a date

is specific to requesting someone to share an evening meal rather than outside activities
to ask over
vsto invite to dinner
  • US
9 3.1

Invite someone to your home for dinner or drinks

is mainly used to request sharing an evening meal rather than any home gathering
to ask round
vsto invite to dinner
  • UK
4.1

To invite people to your home for a visit or meal

is mainly used to request sharing an evening meal rather than any home visit

How Formal

to invite to dinner
3 1.2
to ask over
  • US
9 3.1
to ask round
  • UK
4.1

Surface Forms

invite to dinner infinitive
invited to dinner past
invited to dinner past participle
inviting to dinner present participle
invites to dinner third person singular

Morphology

invite + to + dinner

The meaning is fully compositional: 'invite' (to request someone attend) combined with 'to dinner' (for an evening meal) yields the clear sense 'ask someone to join you for an evening meal.' This verb + prepositional phrase pattern is common and cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily derive the meaning.

Etymology

Invite to dinner shows a simple scene: you invite someone to come into your home and sit at your table to eat dinner together. So it means 'to ask someone to join you for an evening meal', often as a friendly or polite offer.