Pour le dîner, nous avons le choix : soit des pâtes aux légumes, soit du poulet avec du riz.

Yes. Pour le dîner literally means for dinner, but in natural English it often works like for dinner / as for dinner / at dinner depending on context.

Here it sets the topic:

• Pour le dîner = for dinner
• then the sentence tells you what the options are

So the idea is:

• For dinner, we have a choice...

This is a very natural way in French to introduce what is planned for a meal.

Because avoir le choix is a very common French expression meaning to have a choice or to be able to choose.

So:

• nous avons le choix = we have a choice / we can choose

By contrast:

• nous choisissons = we choose / we are choosing

That would focus more on the action of choosing, not on the fact that options are available.

Also, French often says avoir le choix where English might simply say there’s a choice or we can choose.

In the expression avoir le choix, French normally uses le choix.

So:

• avoir le choix = to have a choice
• not usually avoir un choix in this meaning

This is just how the idiom works. French often uses the definite article in places where English uses a or no article at all.

Soit... soit... means either... or...

In this sentence:

• soit des pâtes aux légumes, soit du poulet avec du riz
• = either pasta with vegetables, or chicken with rice

It is used to present two alternatives clearly.

It is a bit more structured or formal than just using ou.

Yes, normally you repeat it:

• soit A, soit B

That is the standard pattern.

So in this sentence:

• soit des pâtes aux légumes, soit du poulet avec du riz

This mirrors English either A or B.

Yes. You could say:

• Pour le dîner, nous avons le choix : des pâtes aux légumes ou du poulet avec du riz.

That would be perfectly natural too.

The difference is mainly style:

• ou = simpler, more everyday
• soit...soit... = more explicit, more balanced, sometimes a bit more formal

This is about how French treats these nouns.

• des pâtes: pasta is usually plural in French
• du poulet: chicken here is an uncountable food item, so French uses the partitive article
• du riz: rice is also uncountable here, so it also takes the partitive article

So:

• des pâtes = pasta
• du poulet = some chicken / chicken
• du riz = some rice / rice

French usually requires an article before nouns like these, even where English often has none.

Because French normally uses the plural les pâtes or des pâtes to mean pasta.

Examples:

• J’aime les pâtes. = I like pasta.
• On mange des pâtes ce soir. = We’re having pasta tonight.

Be careful: the singular la pâte usually means dough, pastry, or batter, not pasta.

So:

• des pâtes = pasta
• la pâte = dough/batter

Aux is the contraction of:

• à + les = aux

In food expressions, à / au / aux often means something like:

• with
• made with
• in the style of
• featuring

So:

• des pâtes aux légumes = pasta with vegetables

It does not mean the vegetables are being given to the pasta. It is just a common food expression.

You could say that, and it would be understood. But it sounds a little different.

• des pâtes aux légumes sounds like a dish name: vegetable pasta / pasta with vegetables
• des pâtes avec des légumes sounds more literal: pasta served with some vegetables

So aux légumes is very natural when talking about the type of dish.

Because French usually needs an article before a noun, even after avec.

So:

• avec du riz = with rice
• literally, with some rice

This is very common with food and other uncountable nouns:

• avec du pain = with bread
• avec du fromage = with cheese
• avec du sucre = with sugar

English often uses no article here, but French usually does not.

They are both translated with with, but they work a little differently.

• aux légumes describes the dish itself: pasta with vegetables as part of the recipe/type
• avec du riz suggests accompaniment: chicken with rice, meaning served alongside rice

So the first sounds more like a named dish, while the second sounds more like one food served together with another.

The colon introduces the options that explain le choix.

So the structure is:

• we have a choice: option 1, option 2

In French, this is a very natural use of a colon:

• statement first
• details or list after

Without the colon, the sentence would still be understandable, but the colon makes the structure clearer.