Dinner

Dinner
 

Let' s go out to dinner. Or let, s go out for dinner. I ' m confused with dinner sometimes people use it with to and sometimes with for.

go out for/to dinner (=go and eat in a restaurant) Would you like to go out for dinner on Saturday?

Looks like both collocations (for/to) are totally valid.

Yes, both collocations are correct. However, consider these:

1. I may go (out) to a place (restaurant) for a meal (dinner).
2. I may go (out) to a meal (dinner) at a place (restaurant).
3. I may go out for a meal at a place (a restaurant, friend's home).

I think that there is a subtle difference between them:

1. When one goes out to dinner, dinner is the desination (it's an event).
2 When one goes out for dinner, going out is the event, and dinner is the reason.

Good to know wrholt!

Some people in the UK may ask “what are you having for dinner?” when they are referring to lunch.
This confusion can happen between native speakers of English UK.

I think it may have come from poor working class backgrounds originally, where “school dinners” would be at lunch time.
This would often be the only cooked meal the child would have that day.