French Phrase
Ce soir, on mange des pâtes.
Meaning
“Tonight, we are eating pasta.” The sentence announces a dinner plan for the evening. The use of *on* makes it informal and inclusive, typical of everyday spoken French.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to tell friends or family what’s on the menu for dinner, or when you’re confirming a meal plan in a casual conversation.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Cesoironmangedespâtes
Ce soir
A time expression meaning “this evening” or “tonight”. It is placed at the beginning of the sentence.
on
An informal pronoun that can mean “we”, “people”, or “one”. It always takes a third‑person singular verb.
mange
Present‑tense form of the verb *manger* (to eat) for third‑person singular (il/elle/on).
des
The partitive article used before a plural noun to indicate an unspecified amount (“some”).
pâtes
Plural noun meaning “pasta”. The circumflex on the ‘a’ signals the historical ‘s’ that has disappeared.
🗨In Conversation
Ce soir, on mange des pâtes.
Tonight, we’re having pasta.
Super, j’adore les pâtes !
Great, I love pasta!
✕Common Mistakes
Ce soir, on mange le pâtes.
The definite article *le* cannot be used with a plural noun like *pâtes*; you need the partitive *des*.
Ce soir, on mangeons des pâtes.
With the pronoun *on*, the verb stays in third‑person singular, not first‑person plural.
Ce soir, on mange des pates.
The word *pâtes* requires the circumflex accent; without it the spelling is incorrect.
↔Alternatives
Ce soir, nous mangeons des pâtes.
Tonight, we are eating pasta.
Ce soir, je mange des pâtes.
Tonight, I am eating pasta.
Ce soir, on va manger des pâtes.
Tonight, we’re going to eat pasta.
Cultural Tip
In France, pasta is often served as a quick, family‑style dinner, usually with a simple sauce like tomato or pesto. The pronoun *on* is extremely common in spoken French and replaces *nous* in informal settings. Remember that *pâtes* is always plural; you’ll rarely hear a singular *pâte* when referring to the dish.