Welcome vs Welcomed

Question

Hello,It's very difficult for me to tell how to choose between "Welcome" and "Welcomed."For example:No matter who you are, you are welcome(d) in this party.In this meeting, any new idea is welcome(d).Both usages are found in my dictionaries. Hmm... Are they interchangeable?Jeremy

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[nq:1]Hello, It's very difficult for me to tell how to choose between "Welcome" and "Welcomed." For example: No matter who ... party. In this meeting, any new idea is welcome(d). Both usages are found in my dictionaries. Hmm... Are they interchangeable?[/nq]
Not quite, but I'm having difficulty expressing the difference.

In your first example, "welcome" sounds right to me and "welcomed" defitiely odd.

In your second example either form sounds OK to me, but I refer "welcome" to "welcomed".

The only example I can think of where "welcomed" seems the only possibility is in sentences like "On arrival they were welcomed by their host." or "Mr Howard welcomed the Prime Minister's proposal."

It seems to me that (a) if the use is adjectival, the "welcome" is the appropriate form, and (b) if the sentence is describing an act of welcoming - in the past tense - then "welcomed" is clearly needed. But I'm sure that doesn't cover all the possibilities.

-- Mike Stevens, narrowboat Felis Catus II Web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk No man is an island. So is Man.

Usenet · Answer

on 20 Dec 2003:
[nq:2]Hello, It's very difficult for me to tell how to ... usages are found in my dictionaries. Hmm... Are they interchangeable?[/nq]
[nq:1]Not quite, but I'm having difficulty expressing the difference. In your first example, "welcome" sounds right to me and "welcomed" ... - in the past tense - then "welcomed" is clearly needed. But I'm sure that doesn't cover all the possibilities.[/nq]
There is also the passive sense of "to be welcome", as in "All ideas are welcomed by the committee", which expresses a habitual state of open-mindedness. I agree with the rest of what you say here.

-- Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello, It's very difficult for me to tell how to choose between "Welcome" and "Welcomed." For example: No matter who ... In this meeting, any new idea is welcome(d). Both usages are found in my dictionaries. Hmm... Are they interchangeable? Jeremy[/nq]
In my opinion, "Welcome" and "Welcomed", are not interchangeable.

1.In a general sense we use: "Welcome!", or "You are welcome!", which basically mean: "I welcome you!". 2. "Welcomed" is used in a more specific sense, for instance: "You are welcomed" ( in my Christmas party etc.), or "Your ideas (regarding this subject) are welcomed".

-- Yours Truly Nick Beqo www.nickbeqo.com

Welcome vs Welcomed

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