welcome somebody to do something

[joham]

In the sentence below, the author uses the construction of 'welcome and encourage sb to do sth'. We cannot use 'welcome sb to do sth' independently, can we?

As always, I welcome and encourage teachers and students to contact me with feedback, not only on their likes and dislikes but suggestions on how the book can be improved as well as where errors and misprints occur.

 

[ChinaDan]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

This usage is fine. "Welcome" can function as a verb (as is the case here), a noun - "I received a warm welcome", an adjective - "You are welcome", or an interjection - "Welcome!" - such as when you open your door to see friends standing outside.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

This usage is fine.

Piscean thought otherwise at https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/...in-this-area?p=1264481&viewfull=1#post1264481

 

[ChinaDan]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

Piscean thought otherwise at https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/...in-this-area?p=1264481&viewfull=1#post1264481

I don't understand the objection. It seems to be based on "usage", and I think this is common usage. It is familiar to me.

Piscean's post doesn't make grammatical arguments (which might give me pause), and the OP usage in this thread would seem to be a grammatically-correct ditransitive form. Then again, grammar isn't my specialty.

If I understand correctly, Piscean's English is UK-based, while mine is a crazy mixture of UK-Oz-US. Quite frankly, I get conflicted whether to use an "s" or a "z" sometimes. But the OP sentence feels right to me; even if I might write it a different way.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/welcome_1?q=welcome
Which definition above fits the OP's sentence?

 

[joham]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

This sentence is taken from INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE MATHEMATICS 3rd edition, by Nigel Buckle, Iain Dunbar, IBID Press, 2005.

 

[ChinaDan]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/welcome_1?q=welcome
Which definition above fits the OP's sentence?

First, I said the argument was a matter of usage; there wasn't a grammatical objection given in your first reference.

Second...

3 (ii) I warmly welcome this decision.

This can be extended to reveal the same pattern"

"I warmly welcome this decision to widen the street in front of the school.


If this still seems odd to you, then view it this way:
OP: "...I welcome and encourage teachers and students to contact me with feedback..."
Reporting on this the next day: "To get more feedback, the speaker welcomed and encouraged the teachers and students."

I don't see anything wrong with this.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

"I warmly welcome this decision to widen the street ...

In the above, the decision to widen the street has been made, which makes sense.
In the following, teachers and students to contact the writer have been made, which makes no sense.

I welcome and encourage teachers and students to contact me ...

 

[GoesStation]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

I don't find the original sentence particularly natural. If the welcome carries over to the contact, then I would say Teachers and students are welcome, indeed encouraged, to contact me with feedback.

The sentence begins I welcome and encourage teachers and students to contact me with feedback....​ This sounds natural to my AmE ears. Perhaps it's only an AmE usage.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

It seems to me the problem arises from the use of the verbs welcome and encourage (which uses the to-infinitive) together.

 

[joham]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

Thank you all for the discussion, which gives me a lot of help. The conclusion could be: Welcome sb to do sth is not a natural construction to use, while 'welcome and encourage sb to do sth' sounds natural at least to AmE ears.

 

[ChinaDan]

Re: welcome sb to do sth

We don't have a consensus, which should inform you of something important.

The definition of "correct English" is really not very "definite" at all. It will often depend on whom you ask. The world is not so neat, I'm afraid