Meaning & use
predinner
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Happening or used in the time just before the main evening meal.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a predinner drink, the predinner rush. It is not used after a verb.
Patterns
- predinner drink
- predinner reception
- predinner talk
We met in the hotel bar for a predinner drink.
The host gave a short predinner speech before everyone sat down.
Predinner snacks were laid out on the kitchen counter.
adverbinformal
Before the main evening meal.
Grammar: Used mainly in informal writing or speech; after a verb it is more natural to say before dinner.
Patterns
- meet predinner
- chat predinner
Let's meet predinner to go over the plan.
They often went for a walk predinner.
Common combinations
- predinner drink
- He ordered a predinner drink while waiting for his friends.
- predinner reception
- The wedding had a predinner reception in the garden.
- predinner speech
- Her predinner speech was short and funny.
- predinner snack
- We had a few predinner snacks because we were hungry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- before-dinner
- Means the same but is more common in American English and often written with a hyphen.
Opposites
Word family
- dinner noun
- The main meal of the day, usually eaten in the evening.
- dinnertime noun
- The usual time when dinner is eaten.
Commonly confused: predinner or pre-dinner?
predinner vs pre-dinner
This is just a hyphenated spelling of the same word. Predinner is the more common written form.
Practice
Which sentence uses predinner correctly?
Choose one answer.
Predinner is an adjective that comes before a noun, as in predinner drink. Option 2 is wrong because predinner cannot take an object like a preposition; option 3 is wrong because predinner is not used after a verb in this way; option 4 is wrong because predinner is not a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “predinner”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.