¿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.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by pjt33

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

Gracias. Tan amable como siempre.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Originally Posted by irmamar

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

Thanks.

Porque para hacer sugerencias solo se usa Shall, en este sentido aunque verbo modal, no significa futuro.

Entonces para comer fuera se pueden usar las mismas frases, instead of dine out.
Shall we have lunch out?
Shall we eat out? etc... THe difference would be the part of the day.
Y desayunar fuera:
Shall we go out for breakfast ? I guess