Use of Article?
If I were to say, "I want dinner" in English, there is no article. I find conflicting translations online, mainly due to the use of articles. Would you say, "Quiero cena" or "Quiero la cena?" or something else altogether?
3 Answers
Hi! I'll answer that for you! "Quiero cenar", "Quiero cena", and "Quiero la cena" are all just fine! But to express courtesy, you could use the future/conditional tense of querer. After all, you wouldn't go up to your mom and say "I WANT DINNER". You could use any of the above examples and replace "quiero" with "querría". Example: "Mamá, (yo) querría cenar". Translation: "Mom, I would like to have dinner". Also, the "a" can be used in indirect objects for clarification on who the verb is being done "to" or "for" (a mi, a nosotros, a ustedes...). The "a" also serves as what is called the personal "a", which has no literal translation and only pops up when the verb is done to a person or personified object (as opposed to normal objects), and should NOT be used with verbs like tener or querer.
Examples:
"Quiero esta camiseta"="I want this shirt."
"Tengo un hermano"="I have a brother"
"Tengo una computadora"="I have a computer"
"Yo como la torta"="I eat the cake"
"Yo le doy a Rosa una un abrazo"="I give Rosa a hug"
"Digo a María"="I talk to maria"
"Yo me digo"="I talk to myself" (Weird!) 
Quiero cenar.
From what I've heard so far, spanish-speaking individuals seem to use the verbs with respect to eating, rather than the noun.
Personally, I would think that the phrase "I want dinner" wouldn't need "la" because the usage of "la" would be considered an unrestriced-appositive phrase because your definite article wouldn't need to be used in the phrase.
