Questions & Answers about Я заплачу за ужин.
Я плачу за ужин means I am paying for dinner (right now) or I pay for dinner (regularly / in general). The verb плачу is the present tense of the imperfective verb платить.
Я заплачу за ужин means I will pay for dinner (on this occasion).
Заплачу is the future tense of the perfective verb заплатить.
So:
- я плачу = I’m paying / I pay (now or habitually)
- я заплачу = I will pay (one completed act in the future, often like a promise or decision)
They are an aspect pair:
- платить – imperfective (focus on process or repeated action)
- заплатить – perfective (focus on the completed single action)
Typical uses:
- Он всегда платит за меня. – He always pays for me. (habit, repeated)
- Я уже заплатил за ужин. – I’ve already paid for dinner. (one completed act)
- Я буду платить за интернет каждый месяц. – I will be paying for the internet every month. (repeated in the future)
- Я заплачу за интернет завтра. – I will pay for the internet tomorrow. (one time)
In your sentence, заплачу highlights one specific future payment that will be completed.
With the verbs платить / заплатить, Russian normally uses за + accusative to express what you are paying for:
- платить / заплатить за что?
Examples:
- заплатить за ужин – to pay for dinner
- заплатить за билет – to pay for the ticket
- платить за квартиру – to pay for the apartment (rent)
- заплатить за обучение – to pay for tuition
You cannot replace за with для, по, etc. in this structure.
So я заплачу за ужин is the correct and idiomatic way to say I’ll pay for dinner.
Ужин here is in the accusative case, because it is the object of за:
- за
- accusative → за ужин
However, masculine inanimate nouns in Russian usually have the same form in nominative and accusative:
- Nominative: ужин (dinner – subject)
- Accusative: ужин (dinner – object)
So it is grammatically changed (it’s accusative), but it just looks the same as the dictionary form.
You see real visible changes more with:
- Feminine nouns:
- ужин → за хорошую пиццу (pizza)
- Animate masculine nouns (people/animals):
- друг (nom.) → за друга (acc.) – for (my) friend
No, я заплачу ужин is incorrect.
With заплатить, you must say:
- заплатить за что? → заплачу за ужин
If you want to avoid за, you need a different verb:
- оплатить что? → я оплачу ужин – I will pay for the dinner / I will cover the dinner bill.
So:
- я заплачу за ужин – correct
- я оплачу ужин – correct
- я заплачу ужин – wrong
Both can be translated as I’ll pay for dinner, but the nuance is a bit different:
я заплачу за ужин
- Very common, neutral, conversational.
- Focuses on the act of paying for something (using за).
- Works great in everyday speech in a restaurant.
я оплачу ужин
- Slightly more formal / “businesslike”.
- Often used with bills, services, official payments: оплатить счёт, услуги, проезд.
- Still possible in a restaurant, but sounds a bit more like “I’ll settle the bill”.
In casual conversation with friends at dinner, я заплачу за ужин is more typical.
Yes, you can change the word order, and the literal meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes.
Neutral, most common:
- Я заплачу за ужин. – I’ll pay for dinner. (simple statement)
Emphatic variants:
- За ужин заплачу я. – I will pay for dinner (not someone else).
- Я за ужин заплачу. – also possible; intonation can emphasize заплачу (the act of paying).
Russian word order is flexible, but:
- Subject – verb – rest (Я заплачу за ужин) is the safest neutral pattern for learners.
- Moving parts to the beginning usually adds emphasis to them.
It’s perfectly natural and clear, especially in the context of paying the bill. But there are a couple of very idiomatic alternatives:
- Я угощаю. – I’m treating (you). / It’s my treat.
- Ужин за мой счёт. – Dinner is on me. (more literal “on my account”)
Nuance:
- Я заплачу за ужин. – focuses on the act of paying.
- Я угощаю. – focuses on the idea of treating someone, being generous.
- Ужин за мой счёт. – sounds a bit more “set phrase” / stylized.
All are fine; in casual speech, я заплачу за ужин and я угощаю are both very natural.
Stress and rough pronunciation:
- я – [ya], like ya in yard.
- заплачу – stress on the last syllable: за-пла-ЧУ
- IPA: [zəplɐˈt͡ɕu]
- ч is like ch in chew (but always soft).
- за – [za], a like a in father.
- ужин – stress on the first syllable: У-жин
- IPA: [ˈuʐɨn]
- у like oo in boot.
- жи is pronounced roughly like zhi in English (a bit like the s in “vision”, plus a Russian ы vowel).
So with stress marked:
- Я заплачу́ за у́жин.
Yes, ужин is the standard word for the evening meal:
- завтрак – breakfast
- обед – lunch (in modern Russian, usually midday main meal)
- ужин – dinner / supper (evening meal)
Examples:
- Приглашаю тебя на ужин. – I’m inviting you to dinner.
- Во сколько у вас обычно ужин? – What time is dinner usually at your place?
So я заплачу за ужин is specifically about paying for the evening meal (or the restaurant dinner).
You can expand the sentence to be more specific:
- Я заплачу за всех. – I’ll pay for everyone.
- Я заплачу за всех за ужин. – I’ll pay for everyone’s dinner.
- Я заплачу за наш ужин. – I’ll pay for our dinner.
- Я заплачу за свой ужин. – I’ll pay for my (own) dinner.
Note:
- за всех – for everyone
- за свой ужин – for my own dinner (using свой for “my own” is very natural in Russian in this kind of context)