Let me <treat><welcome><recept> you.

[kamitk]

I want to tell a friend: If he comes, I will happily have meals with him and maybe play around together as I'm a local.

Here's some thoughts I could think of, although all with disadvantages:

1. Please let me treat you. (It emphasis the eating or paying behavior so much isn't it? And it sounds like a one-time action, not the ongoing playing around.)

2. Please let me welcome you. (Welcome in the airport and say goodbye right after it? It kind of feels like expressing just a welcome happening at the beginning of our meeting.)

3. Please let me recept you. (That's what I found from the translator. I know in my native language it fully makes sense. I guess it barely makes sense in English.)

So is there a way to say "Please let me ___ you." when you're planning to eat, play around, and see points of interests with the friend you're talking to? Since I had to use the word 'please', I appreciate a neutral way to say it --- not to formal, not too casual. Thank you for your answer.

 

[rhitagawr]

You're right about 1, although it's a odd way of saying it.
2 sounds odd. You could say Welcome to Shanghai or wherever it is.
3 is rubbish.

You could say I'll get these if you're talking about, say, cinema tickets or drinks.
You could say This one's on me if you're talking about a single thing like a meal.
You could say Let me get this/these.
There are many variations.
You could say You're my guest today/this week or however long you think your generosity's going to last. The implication is that you're going to pay for everything.

I don't know that there's a neutral was of saying it. The whole point of language like this is that you're trying to be cheerful and friendly.

 

[se16teddy]

1 emphasises that you will pay for everything.

2 sounds odd - you don't need his permission to welcome him.

3 is wrong.

 

[rhitagawr]

1 isn't as odd as 2. It implies you're going to pay for one thing - a meal, say.

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

3. Please let me recept you. (That's what I found from the translator. I know in my native language it fully makes sense. I guess it barely makes sense in English.)

Actually, this makes no sense at all in English, because the word "recept" does not exist.

 

[kamitk]

You're right about 1, although it's a odd way of saying it.
2 sounds odd. You could say Welcome to Shanghai or wherever it is.
3 is rubbish.

You could say I'll get these if you're talking about, say, cinema tickets or drinks.
You could say This one's on me if you're talking about a single thing like a meal.
You could say Let me get this/these.
There are many variations.
You could say You're my guest today/this week or however long you think your generosity's going to last. The implication is that you're going to pay for everything.

I don't know that there's a neutral was of saying it. The whole point of language like this is that you're trying to be cheerful and friendly.

Thank you for the reply. What if I say please let me get this for you/for your trip/for your visit? (Because I kind of felt the sentence needs context, or it can mean 'let me help you'. So I'm trying to add some context to make the sentence more standalone.)

The important thing is, now I know there isn't an exact equivalence in English. Can I ask what is the best and most used way to express my intention without the "Please let me ___" form?

(Just interesting thoughts: Reception means a person helps you by using his individual knowledge and familiarity about the place he's originally in. In details, the person takes you to whatever interior place you want there, make sure you're happy and you finish your goal of the visit there. Just one thing, it totally filters out the sense of personal amity, and it emphasizes a way to do business with. I hope this word has meaning more than that, and I'm now curious about how the word was originated and became like this. Just thinking.)