[Grammar] Invite at vs invite to vs invite for

[Jorgo]

Hello,

Reading an articles and many other materials in English, I have come across different prepositions after verb /noun "invite/invitation" that puzzle me now.
Namely, could you be so kind to explain what is the difference between "invite at" , "invite to" and "invite for"?
Ussually I receive job related invitation AT smth ( for example ".............. We have the honor to invite Mr.......AT the dinner). But in colloquial conversation, and not just colloquial, you can hear very ofter" I would like to invite you TO the dinner".
As that hasn't been enough- I have also come across "FOR" - " I would like.to invite you FOR a coffee ".
Since I try to speak grammatically correct, at the moment can not tell head from tail in this case...
Can anyone provide me a glimpse of correct answer here?
Does this difference in prepositions which follow "invite" have anything related to difference between British/American English?

Thanks in advance

Jorgo

 

[Tarheel]

It depends on context. For example, you can invite somebody over to your house or you can invite somebody over for coffee.

Say:

I have read articles or I have read an article.

Please make your questions simple and uncomplicated. If there are too many words I might forget what the question is.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Jorgo]

Thank you for your time. But still I didn't get the point!

Could you be more specific please?

Ok, in nutshell - " Hi, I would like to invite you____ (at/to) the dinner/lunch/ breakfast"? What is the correct answer here? And why? Cause I have come across both.

Thanks!

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello,

Reading [STRIKE]an[/STRIKE] articles and many other materials in English, I have come across different prepositions after the verb/noun "invite/invitation" [STRIKE]that[/STRIKE] and this puzzles me. [STRIKE]now.[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]
Namely,[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]could[/STRIKE] Would you be so kind as to explain [STRIKE]what is[/STRIKE] the difference between "invite at", "invite to" and "invite for"?

Usually, I receive job-related invitations AT [STRIKE]smth[/STRIKE] something. For example "We have the honor to invite Mr XXX AT the dinner" but in colloquial conversation, and not just colloquial, [STRIKE]you can[/STRIKE] I hear very often "I would like to invite you TO the dinner".

As if that [STRIKE]hasn't been[/STRIKE] wasn't enough, I have also come across "[STRIKE]FOR[/STRIKE] for" - "I would like to invite you FOR a coffee".

Since I try to speak grammatically correctly, and at the moment I cannot [STRIKE]tell head from tail in this case...[/STRIKE] get this straight, can anyone provide me [STRIKE]a glimpse of[/STRIKE] with thecorrect answer here?
Does this difference in prepositions which follow "invite" have anything [STRIKE]related[/STRIKE] to do with a difference between British and American English?

Thanks in advance.

Jorgo

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please see my corrections above.

Whoever is sending you job-related invitations using "I invite you at the dinner" is not using correct English. It's wrong. We can invite people "to dinner" or "for dinner" but when the invitation is to a formal meal where there are probably quite a lot of people, "to dinner" is more likely.

Formal: We would like to invite you to our celebratory dinner on Friday 20th October at 8pm.
Informal (between friends, for example): Do you want to come to our place for dinner on Friday?

 

[Jorgo]

Huh what a mess I made in my first post Thank you for pointing out my grammar and spelling mistakes

Thank you for clarification, but does it stand also for a place(venue of some event).

"On occasion of National day of XXX country we have a pleasure to invite Mr.XXX AT reception"....Is this correct form? Because I have received a bunch of these. And if so, does always "at" follow "invite" if we are talking.about the venue.



Thank you very much once.again for clarification, because it was "tormenting" me a little bit, to find a right answer)

 

[Rover_KE]

[STRIKE]Huh[/STRIKE] What a mess I made [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] of my first post. [STRIKE][/STRIKE] Thank you for pointing out my grammar and spelling mistakes. [STRIKE][/STRIKE]

Thank you for clarification, but does it stand also for a place[space here](venue of some event)?

"On the occasion of the National Day of XXX country we have the pleasure [STRIKE]to invite[/STRIKE] of inviting Mr.XXX AT the reception"....Is this the correct form, because I have received a bunch of these? And if so, does [STRIKE]always[/STRIKE] "at" always follow "invite" if we are talking about the venue?

Thank you very much once again for clarification, because it was tormenting me a little bit, to find a right answer. [STRIKE])[/STRIKE]

Please do not use home-made emoticons to replace standard punctuation marks.

 

[bubbha]

I would like to invite you to my house for dinner.

But you can also say:

I would like to invite you to dinner at my house.

 

[Rover_KE]

... and you can say 'I would like to invite you to the reception at Government House on 5th November 2017 at 8pm.'

 

[Jorgo]

Thank you very much, to all of you, for you time and responds.

Now the things are not so "blurry" anymore.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for your time (no full stop here) but [STRIKE]still[/STRIKE] I still [STRIKE]didn't[/STRIKE] don't get the point!

Could you be more specific please?

[STRIKE]Ok[/STRIKE] OK, in a nutshell, in "Hi, I would like to invite you (at/to) the dinner/lunch/breakfast", what is the correct [STRIKE]answer[/STRIKE] preposition, and why? [STRIKE]here? And why?[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]Cause[/STRIKE] I have come across both.

Thanks!

[STRIKE]Huh[/STRIKE] What a mess I made in my first post. [STRIKE][/STRIKE] Thank you for pointing out my grammar and spelling mistakes. [STRIKE][/STRIKE]

Thank you for the clarification, but does it stand also for a place space before opening brackets (venue of some event)?

"On the occasion of the National day of [STRIKE]XXX country[/STRIKE] [name of country] we have [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] the pleasure [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] of [STRIKE]invite[/STRIKE] inviting Mr. XXX AT reception". Is this correct? [STRIKE]form?[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]Because[/STRIKE] I have received a bunch of [STRIKE]these[/STRIKE] invitations like that. [STRIKE]And[/STRIKE] If [STRIKE]so[/STRIKE] it's correct, does [STRIKE]always[/STRIKE] "at" always follow "invite" if we are talking no full stop here about the venue.

Thank you very much once no full stop here again for clarification, because it was no quotation marks here tormenting no quotation marks here me a little bit, trying to find [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] the right answer. [STRIKE])[/STRIKE]

First, please see my corrections again above. It's important to follow these rules of written English at all times:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter and always capitalise the word "I".
- End every sentence with one appropriate punctuation mark (not an emoticon or smiley).
- Put a space before an opening bracket or opening quotation marks.
- Don't put a space before a closing bracket.
- Don't try to make your own smileys/emoticons. If you must use one, click on the icon in the toolbar and choose one.
- Write "OK" or "okay" but not "Ok".

Let's move on to your issue. I think you should find out who wrote that bunch of invitations which used "You are invited at a/the dinner ..." and show them this thread!

"At" is used directly before the address, not before the name of the event. You are invited TO an event AT a place.

"We have the pleasure of inviting Mr Smith to a dinner at The Strand Hotel, London, on 14th November 2017."

 

[Jorgo]

I am typing from the phone...which is not the best one, so that is very often the reason of my spelling mistakes (I not trying to vindicate myself, definitely I should have paid more attention on that).

Speaking of invitations, frankly, I got these invitations from British and Americans too. I 'll try to make a screenshot tommotow to share with you those "examples".

Just one more question, I saw that you had corrected my sentense, putting gerrund form after "pleasure" instead of "to +infinitive " as I did. Was it wrong what I wrote, or your correction sounds more natural? Or that is interchangeable in this case?

I memorized everything you guys told me, now I will not be so precarious when I invite somebody TO dinner AT my house. :-D

 

[Tarheel]

Excellent, Jorgo! That post was almost perfect.

:up:

 

[emsr2d2]

I am typing from [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] a/my phone ... which is not the best one, so that is very often the reason [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] for my spelling mistakes (I am not trying to vindicate myself; [STRIKE]definitely[/STRIKE] I should definitely have paid more attention [STRIKE]on[/STRIKE] to [STRIKE]that[/STRIKE] my spelling).

[STRIKE]Speaking of invitations, frankly,[/STRIKE] I got these invitations from both [STRIKE]British[/STRIKE] British people/Britons and Americans. [STRIKE]too.[/STRIKE] I'll try to make a screenshot tomorrow to share with you those (no quotation marks here) examples (no quotation marks here).

Just one more question - I saw that you [STRIKE]had[/STRIKE] corrected my sentence, putting the gerund form after "pleasure" instead of "to + infinitive" as I did. Was [STRIKE]it wrong[/STRIKE] what I wrote wrong, or does your correction [STRIKE]sounds[/STRIKE] simply sound more natural? Or [STRIKE]that is[/STRIKE] are they interchangeable in this case?

I have memorized everything you [STRIKE]guys[/STRIKE] told me; now I will [STRIKE]not be so precarious[/STRIKE] be able to use correct English when I invite somebody TO dinner AT my house. :-D

I can only speak for BrE, but "I have the pleasure to invite ..." doesn't work. To be honest, I wouldn't expect an invitation to include those words at all. A standard invitation would start with something like:

You are cordially invited to ...

Note my corrections above. Don't put a space after opening quotation marks or before closing quotation marks. An ellipsis should have a space at either end of the three dots.