Learn Hardcore French: Ce soir, nous mangeons une salade de tomates.

French often uses the present tense for scheduled or near-future events when a time expression is present. Ce soir, nous mangeons… is like English “Tonight, we’re eating…”. You could also say:

Ce soir, nous allons manger… (near future, a bit more explicit)
Ce soir, nous mangerons… (simple future, more formal or distant-sounding)

Can I move ce soir to the end of the sentence?

Yes. Both are correct:

Ce soir, nous mangeons une salade de tomates.
Nous mangeons une salade de tomates ce soir. The comma after fronted time phrases is common but not strictly required.

Why is it une salade and not de la salade?

Une salade de tomates: one dish (a countable “salad”).
De la salade de tomates: some tomato salad (an indefinite quantity).
Des salades de tomates: multiple salads. Your sentence talks about one salad as a dish.

Could I say on instead of nous?

Yes. In everyday speech, on is more common for “we”:

Ce soir, on mange une salade de tomates. Remember to conjugate with third-person singular: on mange (not “on mangeons”).

Why is it spelled mangeons and not “mangons”?

Because manger is a -ger verb. In the “nous” form, an extra e is kept before -ons to keep the soft g sound:

nous mangeons, nous rangeons, nous encourageons

How do I pronounce the key parts naturally?

Ce soir: roughly “suh swar” (French r in the throat).
nous: “noo”.
mangeons: “mahn-zhon” (nasal “on”; the s is silent).
Optional liaison to the next word vowel: mangeons une can be “mahn-zhon-zün”.
une: close front u, “ün” (not like English “yoon”).
salade: “sa-lad” (the d is pronounced).
de: “də” (“duh”).
tomates: “toh-mat” (final s silent).

Is there a liaison between mangeons and une?

It’s optional. Many speakers say a linking z: mangeons‿une (“mahn-zhon-zün”). Without the liaison is also fine in casual speech.

Why is it de tomates and not des tomates?

In food names of the type “X of Y,” French uses bare de to show composition: une salade de tomates, une tarte de poires (less common than “aux” here), une soupe de légumes.
Use des tomates when tomatoes are the direct object: Ce soir, nous mangeons des tomates (we’re eating tomatoes).

Could I say salade aux tomates?

Normally no; the standard dish name is salade de tomates. Rough rule:

de = made of, main constituent (salad whose main element is tomatoes).
à/aux = served with/featuring pieces added to a base: omelette aux champignons, pizza aux anchois, salade verte aux tomates (a green salad with tomatoes added).

Can I use singular tomate (salade de tomate)?

People overwhelmingly say salade de tomates (plural) because the salad contains multiple pieces/slices. Singular often appears when the ingredient is viewed as a substance or flavor: jus de tomate, sauce tomate.

How do I negate it?

With the countable version: Ce soir, nous ne mangeons pas de salade de tomates.
(The indefinite article une becomes de after negation.)
With the partitive: Ce soir, nous ne mangeons pas de salade de tomates.
(Partitives also become de after negation.)

Is the comma after Ce soir required?

It’s recommended after a fronted adverbial like Ce soir, but you’ll also see it without the comma. Both are acceptable.

What’s the difference between ce soir and cette soirée?

Ce soir = tonight/this evening (time of day).
Cette soirée = the evening as an event or social occasion: Cette soirée était géniale (That party/evening was great).

What’s the difference between soir and nuit?

soir/ce soir: evening/tonight (before you go to bed).
nuit/cette nuit: night/tonight during the night (while people are sleeping).
Example: Ce soir je dîne tôt, mais cette nuit je travaille.

Why is it ce soir and not cet soir?

Use ce before masculine nouns starting with a consonant: ce soir.
Use cet before masculine nouns starting with a vowel or mute h: cet après-midi, cet hiver.
Use cette for feminine nouns: cette soirée.

Could I use a different verb than manger?

At a restaurant or when ordering: prendre is very common: Ce soir, nous prenons une salade de tomates.
To make a plan/suggestion: on se fait is colloquial: Ce soir, on se fait une salade de tomates.
Dîner means “to have dinner,” not usually used transitively in modern speech: you’d say Ce soir, nous dînons (we’re having dinner), or more literary/formal: dîner de: Nous dînons d’une salade…

How do I turn it into “Let’s eat a tomato salad tonight”?

Use the inclusive imperative:

Mangeons une salade de tomates ce soir !
Other natural suggestions:
On mange une salade de tomates ce soir ?
Et si on mangeait une salade de tomates ce soir ? (polite, soft suggestion)

Can French drop the article, like “We eat tomato salad tonight”?

No. French almost always uses an article with countable nouns. You need une, la, de la, etc. So keep une salade de tomates or de la salade de tomates, not “∅ salade de tomates.”