Missing definite article?

Question

Why is it not “avant le dîner” in both examples? In the example with Je doit it’s just avant dîner.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Maeve,
Jim is correct that here "dîner" is a verb and therefore "le" is not present. Actually, in this instance, you could have "avant dîner / avant le dîner / avant de dîner as "dîner" can be a verb or a noun. 
We have amended the second sentence to include "le" so as to stay consistent. 
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Maeve,Don't forget that "dîner" can occur as a noun "Le dîner" or as an intransitive verb "dîner" --> to eat / have dinner.Bonne continuation.Jim

Answer

Agree with Jim’s thoughts as a potential explanation - however ‘avant de dîner’ would be correct, and ‘eating/having dinner’ a better translation, if using the infinitive ‘dîner’.

Regardless of reasoning, at A1 level, I think the 2 sentences should have the same basic structure when indicating the same translation, or an explanation of the reason for the difference.

For what it’s worth, the 2nd sentence does reflect ‘language in current usage’ - the article often being dropped here.

Avant de + infinitive = Before + -ing in French

Answer

This change fixes both problems then - the original translation to English of the French verb ‘diner’ - which apparently it was meant to be - was nominal, not verbal, and therefore not the most appropriate translation; it also aligns the first and second examples better.