invite someone out

Meaning

To ask someone to go somewhere with you, such as to a restaurant, cinema, or bar, usually for a date or a social event. It is polite, neutral, and very common in both romantic and friendly contexts.

Examples

• He finally built up the courage to invite her out for dinner.

  He finally built up the courage to invite her out for dinner.

• I want to invite him out, but I'm worried he might say no.

  I want to invite him out, but I'm worried he might say no.

• She invited me out for drinks with her coworkers last Friday.

  She invited me out for drinks with her coworkers last Friday.

• If you like her, you should just invite her out to see a movie.

  If you like her, you should just invite her out to see a movie.

• My neighbors invited us out to a local cafe to get to know us better.

  My neighbors invited us out to a local cafe to get to know us better.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ He invited out her for lunch.

  ✓ He invited her out for lunch.

  When using a pronoun like 'her', 'him', or 'them', it must go between 'invite' and 'out'.

• ✗ She invited me out to dinner.

  ✓ She invited me out for dinner.

  While 'to dinner' is sometimes understood, the standard natural preposition for meals with this expression is 'for' (e.g., invite out for coffee, for lunch, for drinks).

Related Expressions

Practice

• I think he likes you; he might ___ for coffee soon.

  💡 ask you to go somewhere with him

  Show answer

  invite you out

• He wanted to ___ for dinner, but he was too nervous.

  💡 ask her to go to a restaurant with him

  Show answer

  invite her out