# Come for dinner tonight



## Le Bélier

The English sentence is  _"You should come here for dinner tonight."_  My problem is with _dinner _and _tonight _since they both refer to different aspects of time in Hebrew.  Well, here's my attempt.  



אתה צריך לבוא כאן לארוחות ערב הלילה.


Would this make sense to a native speaker?  If not, is there a better was to say this?


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## OsehAlyah

Le Bélier said:


> The English sentence is  _"You should come here for dinner tonight."_  My problem is with _dinner _and _tonight _since they both refer to different aspects of time in Hebrew.  Well, here's my attempt.
> 
> 
> 
> אתה צריך לבוא כאן לארוחות ערב הלילה.
> 
> 
> Would this make sense to a native speaker?  If not, is there a better was to say this?


OK I'm not a native speaker and most likely know less Hebrew than you.  So I will leave the real answer to the experts. However, wanted to point out a couple of things that jumped out at me.
1. It may be that the verb חייב (must, gotta) might be a better fit here than צריך (need).
2. This is probably just a type but לארוחות is plural for meals. You probably meant לארוחת ערב
3. My last suggestion is to move כאן  right before הלילה

Now let's see what the knowledgeable people say.


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## ks20495

Le Bélier, your sentence makes sense, except you need to add "ל" before "כאן" (it could also be "לפה").
.אתה צריך לבוא לפה לארוחת ערב הלילה​
Also note that the word "should" doesn't exactly exist in Hebrew. I probably wouldn't use "צריך" in the context of an invitation (if that is your intention).


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## elroy

ks20495 said:


> I probably wouldn't use "צריך" in the context of an invitation (if that is your intention).


 I wouldn't either.  I would probably just use the imperative (בוא).  In some contexts, אולי תבוא might work.


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## origumi

In Hebrew ארוחת ערב usually happens in the ערב, not לילה. The way it's written above sounds wierd.


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## Le Bélier

origumi said:


> In Hebrew ארוחת ערב usually happens in the ערב, not לילה. The way it's written above sounds wierd.



Exactly what I originally said.    So, how do we get _dinner _(which has ערב) and _tonight_ (הלילה) in the same sentence in Hebrew?  אין ארוחת ערה מחר!
אפשר להגיד "לבוא לארוחת ערב הערב"?  That doesn't seem right to me either.


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## Le Bélier

OsehAlyah said:


> 1. It may be that the verb חייב (must, gotta) might be a better fit here than צריך (need).
> 2. This is probably just a type but לארוחות is plural for meals. You probably meant לארוחת ערב



1.  In context, it's meant more as a suggestion or urging, not an obligation, so I'm not sure if חייב is perhaps a little too strong.
2.  Yes, yet another typo, only I'm not being allowed to correct it now.  



ks20495 said:


> Le Bélier, your sentence makes sense, except you need to add "ל" before "כאן" (it could also be "לפה")..אתה צריך לבוא לפה לארוחת ערב הלילה​Also note that the word "should" doesn't exactly exist in Hebrew. I probably wouldn't use "צריך" in the context of an invitation (if that is your intention).



Based on the context above, what would your suggestion be?


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## ks20495

Origumi is right that "הערב" is more common than "הלילה". But, it really depends what time of day you mean. In Hebrew, "הערב" doesn't have the formal connotations that (I think) "this evening" does in English.

Note that you could just say "היום" if you prefer not to say "erev" twice in a row.

These are a few casual ways to invite people:

?אולי תבוא לפה לארוחת ערב הלילה
_Literally: Maybe you'll come here for dinner tonight?_​
?מה דעתך שתבוא לפה לארוחת ערב הלילה 
_Literally: What is your opinion that you come to dinner tonight_ (Kind of like "how about you come to dinner tonight?")​
.אשמח אם תבוא לפה לארוחת ערב הלילה
_Literally: I will be happy if you come here for dinner tonight._ (Like "I would love for you to..." This sort of has the same ring as "You should...")​


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## origumi

ks20495 said:


> But, it really depends what time of day you mean. In Hebrew, "הערב" doesn't have the formal connotations that (I think) "this evening" does in English.


I experienced minsundertandings when making business with UK partners in regards to day-part names:

* Noon - in Israel between 14:00 - 16:00, in England 12:00
* Afternoon - in Israel between 16:00 - sunset, in England around 14:00.
* Evening - in Israel between sunset and the time one goes to sleep, in England much earlier.

Translation should take this difference in account. I believe that invitation as the one above would usually be for hour regarded in English as night but in Hebrew as evening.


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## OsehAlyah

origumi said:


> I experienced misundertandings when making doing business with my/our UK partners in regards to day-part names:
> 
> * Noon - in Israel between 14:00 - 16:00, in England 12:00
> * Afternoon - in Israel between 16:00 - sunset, in England around 14:00.
> * Evening - in Israel between sunset and the time one goes to sleep, in England much earlier.
> 
> Translation should take this difference in account. I believe that invitation as the one above would usually be for hour regarded in English as night but in Hebrew as evening.


Just in case anyone is curious US shares with England those time associations. 
Noon - 12:00
Afternoon - After 12:00 and before 16:00
Evening - After 16:00 and before about 20:00 ( or 19:00)
Night - after 20:00 ( or 19:00)
Midnight - 24:00


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## ks20495

Le Bélier, do you feel like your question's answered?


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## origumi

LOL occasionally I feel that many of us here (including myself) are some kind of Statler and Waldorf. Talking about anything instead of simply answering the question.


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## Le Bélier

ks20495 said:


> le bélier, do you feel like your question's answered?




כמעט.  אשפשר לאומר "למה לו תבוא לכאן לארוחת ערב היום?"  אם לו, חושב שאשתמש בהצעה השני שלך.   
​


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## mediterraneo24

.אפשר בהחלט
But using היום is technically wrong, because dinners are being held in the ערב, so in order to avoid repetitions I would say למה שלא תבוא לכאן לארוחה הערב?
Although you could most definitely say למה שלא תבוא לכאן לארוחת ערב היום?


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## Le Bélier

mediterraneo24 said:


> למה שלא תבוא לכאן לארוחה הערב?




סבבה!

תודה רבה!
​


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## Ali Smith

So if I wanted to say "We would like to invite you for dinner." would I say _hayinu rotsim lehazmin otka le-arukhat erev_ or _hayinu rotsim lehazmin otka la-arukhat erev_?


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