¿Salimos a cenar?

[irmamar]

I'd like to know the possible alternatives there are to translate the following sentence into English. Could you help me?

¿Salimos a cenar?

Thanks in advance

[pjt33]

Shall we eat out? (La traducción instantánea)
Shall we dine out? (Más formal, connotaciones de restaurante caro)

Menos literales:
Would you like to eat out?
Do you feel like eating out?
Feel like eating out?
What would you say to an Indian? * (Se puede sustituir Chinese o curry; otras comidas no se abrevian tanto: por ejemplo...)
How about going to that nice Greek place round the corner?


* Un compañero chistoso contestaría "I'd say, 'Hello,' and hope he spoke English."

[irmamar]

Thanks.

What do you think about: shall we go out for dinner?

[pjt33]

It's fine, although in some contexts you might be wary of it being misinterpreted as an invitation to a romantic date.

[irmamar]

Why didn't you use "will"? Isn't "will" used in that kind of sentences?

Thanks.

[Perikles]

Will and Shall have an immensly complicated history. I shall explain. In British English, the difference is thus:

First person sing. and plural:

I shall, we shall, express a simple future.

I shall have to wear my old coat

This is especially true in questions. I will and we will express determination or insistence.

Second and third persons sing. and plural:
Exactly the opposite.

Classic example:
"I will follow you to the ends of the Earth", said Susan passionately. "It will not be necessary" said George. "I am only going down into the cellar. I shall spend the next half-hour or so there."

Originally Posted by irmamar

What do you think about: shall we go out for dinner?

I agree with pjt: Far more general would be

Shall we go out to eat somewhere?

[pjt33]

Perikles missed some important words. After "In British English", insert "as spoken by the older generations". I remember my Latin teacher explaining this with an anecdote about an Irishman who fell into the river. When an Englishman rushed to help, the Irishman (not speaking proper English, obviously ) cried out "I will drown, and no-one shall save me!" So the Englishman left him to it.

Para mi "shall" es cuestión de voluntad y "will" de hecho, sin importar la persona gramática. "Shall we eat out?" "Do you want to eat out?" y "Will we eat out?" "Are we going to eat out?" aunque en el concepto de Perikles sería al revés.

[irmamar]

That "shall" always causes me a great headache.

Thanks

BTW, why "eat" instead of "dinner"?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

BTW, why "eat" instead of "dinner"?

Both are correct, but as pjt says above, 'going out to dinner' can have the connotations of a romantic evening. Just 'eat' is neutral, with no overtones.

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by irmamar

BTW, why "eat" instead of "dinner"?

Did you mean "why 'eat' instead of 'dine'?"? "To dine" is a formal register.