Have lunch means to eat your midday meal. Lunch is the meal in the middle of the day, while dinner in modern English is usually the evening meal. So a meal eaten around midday is almost always lunch: have lunch with a colleague, have lunch at home.
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have lunch (with + person / at + place); have + food + for lunch; go out for lunch
- Let's have lunch together on Friday and talk about the new project.
- I usually have a sandwich for lunch because my break is only half an hour.
- On our trip to Rome, we had lunch in a tiny restaurant near the station.
What changed
First versionAt work we usually have dinner at one o'clock in the canteen.
RevisionAt work we usually have lunch at one o'clock in the canteen.
Dinner at one o'clock sounds odd to most English speakers today, because dinner usually means the evening meal. For the midday meal, English normally uses lunch. So dinner was replaced with lunch.
In the north of England and in British schools, the midday meal is still often called dinner: school dinners. But in everyday speech and in textbooks, the midday meal is lunch and the evening meal is dinner: We had lunch at one and dinner at eight.
Your turn
What did you have ___ lunch today?
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for — To talk about what you ate at midday, say have something for lunch. On lunch isn't used in a question like this.
Invite a colleague or classmate to have lunch together. Suggest a day and a place.
Would you like to have lunch with me on Wednesday at the Italian café across the street?
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