Learn Hardcore French: Ils vont dîner au restaurant ce soir. - They are going to have dinner at the restaurant tonight.

aller + infinitive (here, vont dîner) is the near future (futur proche). It expresses a plan/intention, often for the near future, and is very common in speech. It feels like “They’re going to have dinner...”.

Why isn’t it Ils vont à dîner?

With the near future you use aller + infinitive directly: aller dîner, not aller à dîner.
Note: aller à un dîner exists, but it means “to go to a dinner (event/party),” where dîner is a noun, not a verb.

Why au restaurant and not à le restaurant?

au is the mandatory contraction of à + le.

Masculine singular: au (à + le) → au restaurant
Feminine singular: à la → à la boulangerie
Before vowel/silent h: à l’ → à l’école
Plural: aux (à + les) → aux restaurants

Does au restaurant mean “at the restaurant” or “at a restaurant”?

Both, depending on context. French often uses the definite article generically: aller au restaurant typically means “go out to a restaurant.” To emphasize “some/one restaurant,” you can say dans un restaurant. To name a specific one: au restaurant Le Bistrot.

What’s the difference between dîner and manger here?

dîner = “to have dinner” (the evening meal in France).
manger = “to eat.”
So Ils vont manger au restaurant is broader (“They’re going to eat at a restaurant”), while Ils vont dîner specifies it’s dinner.

Are there regional differences for dîner?

Yes. In France: déjeuner (lunch), dîner (dinner).
In Belgium, Switzerland, and Quebec: dîner is lunch, souper is dinner. There you’d usually say Ils vont souper ce soir. The phrase ce soir still clearly means “this evening.”

What exactly does ce soir mean? How is it different from la soirée or la nuit?

ce soir = this evening/tonight (time of day).
la soirée = the evening as a duration/event (e.g., une soirée = a party/evening event).
la nuit = nighttime; cette nuit = “tonight” but for the night hours. You don’t say cette nuit for dinner plans.

Can I move ce soir to the beginning?

Yes: Ce soir, ils vont dîner au restaurant.
Typical order is place then time (… au restaurant ce soir), but time-first is also natural for emphasis.

How do I make it negative?

Place the negation around the conjugated verb aller: Ils ne vont pas dîner au restaurant ce soir.
Not: ✗ Ils vont ne pas dîner...

How do I pronounce the sentence?

Approximate IPA: [il vɔ̃ dine o ʁɛstoʁɑ̃ sə swaʁ].

Ils: the final -s is silent here ([il]).
vont: nasal “on” [vɔ̃]; silent -t.
dîner: î = [i], like “dee-nay.”
au: [o].
restaurant: final -t silent; [ʁɛstoʁɑ̃].
ce: [sə].
soir: [swaʁ].

Why Ils and not Elles?

Use Ils for an all-male group or a mixed group. Use Elles only for an all-female group (or feminine-only nouns).

Can I replace au restaurant with a pronoun?

Yes, use y for a place introduced by à: Ils vont y dîner ce soir (“They’re going to dine there tonight”).
Note: y does not replace dans un restaurant well; it replaces à + place.

Can I drop ce soir?

Yes: Ils vont dîner au restaurant. The near future already implies a plan in the (near) future, but without ce soir the time isn’t specified.

How do I ask “Are they going to have dinner at the restaurant tonight?” in different ways?

Intonation: Ils vont dîner au restaurant ce soir ?
With est-ce que: Est-ce qu’ils vont dîner au restaurant ce soir ?
Inversion (more formal): Vont-ils dîner au restaurant ce soir ?

Could I use the present tense for a scheduled plan?

Yes: Ils dînent au restaurant ce soir also means they’re dining out tonight (a fixed plan/schedule). Near future (Ils vont dîner...) is very common and slightly more “on the way to happening.”

Is the circumflex in dîner necessary?

Standard spelling keeps it: dîner (verb/noun). A reform allows diner as a variant, but the accented form is far more common and avoids confusion with the English loanword un diner. Use dîner.