Meaning & use
dinnertime
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The usual time in the evening when people eat their main meal.
Grammar: Usually used without 'a' or 'the': We talked at dinnertime.
Patterns
- at dinnertime
- before/after dinnertime
- dinnertime is ...
The children are always hungry by dinnertime.
Please call me after dinnertime, when things are quieter.
At dinnertime the whole family sits down together.
nouncountable
The main meal itself, especially when it is served in the evening.
Grammar: Can be countable when talking about one particular meal: a dinnertime of soup and bread.
Patterns
- a dinnertime of something
- the dinnertime meal
It was a simple dinnertime of soup and bread.
The hotel serves a generous dinnertime from six o'clock.
Common combinations
- at dinnertime
- We usually watch the news at dinnertime.
- around dinnertime
- She'll be home around dinnertime.
- before dinnertime
- Finish your homework before dinnertime.
- family dinnertime
- Family dinnertime is important in their house.
- dinnertime conversation
- The topic came up in dinnertime conversation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- supper time
- Used in British English for the evening meal, which may be lighter and later than dinner.
- mealtime
- A general word for any meal, not specifically the evening one.
Word family
- dinner noun
- The main meal of the day, eaten in the evening or at midday.
- dinner table noun
- The table where a family eats dinner.
Commonly confused: dinnertime or diner?
dinnertime vs diner
A diner is a person eating or a cheap restaurant; dinnertime is the time of the meal.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
'Dinnertime' is uncountable here, so no article is used: at dinnertime. 'At the dinnertime' and 'at a dinnertime' wrongly add an article, and 'dinnertimes' is not used in this fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dinnertime”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.