Nous allons rentrer à la maison avant le dîner.

This is the near future in French: aller + infinitive.

• nous allons = we are going to
• rentrer = to go back / to return / to head home

So nous allons rentrer means we are going to go back or we’re going to head home.

French often uses this structure the same way English uses be going to + verb.

In this sentence, rentrer means to return, especially to go back home or to go back inside / to the place where you belong.

Common differences:

• rentrer = to go back, often home
• retourner = to return/go back to a place more generally
• revenir = to come back

So:

• Nous allons rentrer à la maison = We’re going home / We’re going back home
• Nous allons retourner au bureau = We’re going back to the office
• Nous allons revenir demain = We’re coming back tomorrow

Here, rentrer sounds very natural because the destination is home.

French usually needs a preposition before a destination.

• à = to / at
• la maison = the house / home

So rentrer à la maison literally means to return to the house, but in natural English it usually means to go home.

French often uses à la maison where English just says home.

For example:

• Je suis à la maison. = I am at home.
• Je rentre à la maison. = I’m going home.

Because maison is a feminine noun.

The preposition à combines with the definite articles like this:

• à + le = au
• à + la = à la
• à + l’ = à l’
• à + les = aux

Since maison is feminine singular, it takes la:

• à la maison

If the noun were masculine singular, you would usually get au instead:

• au bureau = to the office

French uses articles much more often than English does.

• avant = before
• le dîner = dinner / the dinner

So avant le dîner literally looks like before the dinner, but in English we usually just say before dinner.

This is very normal in French. Compare:

• avant le dîner = before dinner
• après le travail = after work
• pendant la journée = during the day

The article is not especially emphasizing one specific dinner here; it is just standard French usage.

Yes. This can be confusing.

In most modern standard French, especially in many contexts:

• petit déjeuner = breakfast
• déjeuner = lunch
• dîner = dinner

But in some regions or older usage, especially depending on country or local habits, meal words can vary.

For most learners, the safest interpretation of le dîner is dinner / the evening meal unless context clearly shows otherwise.

Because in French, subject pronouns are normally required.

Even though allons is the nous form of aller, French still says:

• Nous allons...

Unlike Spanish or Italian, French usually does not drop the subject pronoun in normal sentences.

So nous allons rentrer is the standard form, not just allons rentrer.

Grammatically, it is closest to We are going to go home, because it uses aller + infinitive.

But in natural English, you would often simply say:

• We’re going home
• We’ll head home
• We’re going to head home

So the exact translation depends on style and context. French aller + infinitive is very common and does not always sound as heavy as going to + verb can sound in English.

Yes. That uses the simple future instead of the near future.

• Nous allons rentrer... = We’re going to go home...
• Nous rentrerons... = We will go home...

Both are correct.

Very roughly:

• aller + infinitive often sounds a bit more conversational and immediate
• the simple future can sound a bit more neutral, formal, or detached, depending on context

In everyday spoken French, nous allons rentrer is extremely common.

A careful pronunciation would be approximately:

Noo za-lon rahn-tray ah lah may-zon ah-vahn luh dee-nay

A few helpful points:

• Nous allons usually has a liaison: nous-z-allons
• the r in rentrer is the French r
• avant has a nasal vowel, so the an is not pronounced like English an
• dîner has a clear ee sound at the start: dee-nay

In natural speech, it flows together quite smoothly: Nous-z-allons rentrer à la maison avant le dîner.

Sometimes, yes, but the meaning is slightly different.

• à la maison = at home / home
• chez nous = at our place / to our place

So:

• Nous allons rentrer à la maison = We’re going home
• Nous allons rentrer chez nous = We’re going back to our place / home

Both can work, but à la maison is very common and straightforward in this sentence. Chez nous can sound a little more personal, emphasizing our place rather than just home in general.