cenar
/θeˈnaɾ/
To eat the final meal of the day is cenar in Spanish.
The verb cenar specifically refers to the act of eating the evening meal. You can use the phrase cenar fuera to express the idea of eating out, typically at a restaurant rather than at home.
Which one should you use?
While the general verb comer means to eat, cenar is used when you want to specify that the meal is dinner.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, cenar is the most appropriate way to express the act of having dinner. In Argentina, you may encounter the slang term morfar, which can mean 'to eat' in general or specifically 'to have dinner'. In Spain and some parts of Latin America, the verb merendar is used to refer to having a light dinner or an afternoon snack.
How does it change in a sentence?
cenar is a regular -ar verb. This means it follows standard conjugation patterns, such as cenamos for the first-person plural present tense ('we eat dinner').
How do you pronounce it?
/θeˈnaɾ/
Did you know?
- The word cenar is inherited from the Latin word cēnāre, which specifically referred to the main meal of the day in Ancient Rome.
- If you are invited to 'cenar' in Spain, do not be surprised if the meal does not start until 10 pm. This schedule is culturally standard and much later than the dinner times found in most English-speaking countries.
- While cenar is a verb, the noun cena is used in Spanish to refer to the 'Last Supper' as La Última Cena.
Examples in context
- Me gustaría cenar en un buen restaurante esta noche.I would like to have dinner at a nice restaurant tonight.
- ¿Vamos a cenar pizza esta noche?Are we going to have pizza for dinner tonight?
- ¿A qué hora quieres cenar?What time do you want to have dinner?
- Queremos cenar en un restaurante italiano.We want to eat dinner in an Italian restaurant.
- ¿A qué hora vas a cenar?What time are you going to eat dinner?
Example conversation
María and Javier are deciding what to do for the evening.
- María¿Quieres cenar algo en casa, Javier?Do you want to eat dinner at home, Javier?
- JavierPrefiero cenar fuera esta noche.I prefer to eat dinner out tonight.
- MaríaEstá bien, podemos cenar en el centro.That is fine, we can eat dinner downtown.
- JavierPerfecto, me encanta esa idea.Perfect, I love that idea.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry cenar, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cenar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
