When should I use "to have a dinner" instead of "to have dinner"?

Question

As said in that commentary, to have a dinner isn't ungrammatical, but implies a dinner for a specific reason. Examples are:

we're having a dinner in his honour
we're having a birthday dinner for you

but the difference is totally unclear for me. What is changed, if I'd say we're having dinner in his honour, for example.

The question of which this is a duplicate is not about article usage either. Both are about the special meaning of "dinner" with the zero article. (By the way, in your question, didn't you mean to write "What is changed, if I'd say we're having dinner in his honour, for example." — P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica, Sep 07 '16 at 20:23
@P.E.Dant fixed. Also one new question is raised - what is the difference between the dinner and a dinner since both are reffered to the meal as an event. I think this question is not worthy to be asked by itself. — aryndin, Sep 07 '16 at 20:34
A native speaker infers the special meaning from context, I'm afraid. In other words, there really isn't a rule at work here. — P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica, Sep 07 '16 at 20:36
@P.E.Dant in other words, article depends on context in this case, if I understand correctly? — aryndin, Sep 07 '16 at 20:38

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

5

A dinner is a different noun than dinner.

A dinner implies a special occasion/celebration/observance. Typically this would involve a lot of people coming together for a particular purpose, at which food will be served (almost incidentally).

Dinner is the meal you have at the end of the day. Although there are regional variations on what you call the three basic meals that you might eat in the morning, at noon and at the end of the day.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

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answered Sep 07 '16 at 18:19

Joel Brown

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n.b., All nouns describing meals fall under this rubric, e.g. brunch, lunch, supper, breakfast. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 07 '16 at 20:26

When should I use "to have a dinner" instead of "to have dinner"?

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