We welcome you/You are welcome

[ticcota]

Hi,

"We welcome you to join us on a special tour which explores this unique Australian attraction."

Does it make sense if I say this sentence in another way (if it does, does it have the same meaning as the original sentence):

"You are welcome to join us on a special tour which explores this unique Australian attraction."

Or
"You are welcomed to join us on a special tour which explores this unique Australian attraction."

Thank you very much.

 

[Askalon]

In that context, "we welcome you" sounds the most natural way to say it.

"You are welcome" is grammatical, but it sounds a bit strange to me in that context. I think it's something that I would use in an informal context, like if your friend invites you to come over that night ("you're welcome to join us tonight, we're watching movies at my place" kind of thing). It seems a bit strange to use it in a more impersonal invitation sent to a large number of people.

I'm not sure if "you are welcomed" is grammatical or not in that sentence. In either case, it definitely sounds strange to me.

 

[KHS]

This is where NSs can drive NNSs crazy. To me, "You are welcome to join us..." sounds more natural than "We welcome you to join us..." which sounds a bit formal, and therefore (in *my* English) less common.

Checking COCA (the Corpus of Contemporary American English, over 410 million words), I found
We welcome you to = 21 instances
You are welcome to = 48 instances
You are welcomed to = 0 instances

BNC (via BYU architecture; 100 million words, with collection of corpus data ending in 1993)
We welcome you to = 2 instances
You are welcome to = 36 instances
You are welcomed to = 0 instances

 

[Fabulist]

I agree with KHS and respectfully disagree with Askalon. The corpora support all of us in rejecting "You are welcomed ..."

 

[Parla]

I think the meaning would be different. You haven't described the circumstances in which these things are being said, but to me:

We welcome you . . . = We're glad that you have joined this tour, now starting.

You are welcome . . . = A tour will be starting, and you may join it if you wish.

 

[KHS]

I think the meaning would be different. You haven't described the circumstances in which these things are being said, but to me:

We welcome you . . . = We're glad that you have joined this tour, now starting.

You are welcome . . . = A tour will be starting, and you may join it if you wish.

At least in the sentence that was cited, I don't make this distinction.

 

[Languagethinkerlover]

In my opinion, 'You are welcome' implies that you do not have to join the tour and it is up to you to decide.

'We welcome you,' I believe is a nice way of saying, "You are here with us (about to start the tour) and we are glad to have you." It's almost like an introduction to the tour.

I believe this is similar to what Parla wrote.

 

[KHS]

In my opinion, 'You are welcome' implies that you do not have to join the tour and it is up to you to decide.

'We welcome you,' I believe is a nice way of saying, "You are here with us (about to start the tour) and we are glad to have you." It's almost like an introduction to the tour.

I believe this is similar to what Parla wrote.

For me, if the sentence had been
"We welcome you to the tour."
it would have meant what Languagethinkerlover wrote.

However, for me,
"We welcome you to join the tour."
like
"You are welcome to join the tour."
simply offers you an option.

 

[stephenlearner]

After having read lots of threads about welcome, I thought I was clearer.
But this thread makes me confused again.
In the thread titled "welcome someone to do something" http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2163405, Mr. Copyright and other natives have stated "welcome someon to do something" is not natural English.
But this structure is usd here and it looks like the answerers deem it perfectly natural.

Could someone clarify this issue?

 

[Sparky Malarky]

See those cookies? You are welcome to have one.
Want to join our tour? You are welcome to do so.

We would welcome your comments. (IF you gave them to us.)
We welcome your comments. (WHEN you do give them to us.)

All of these are really invitations. But "We welcome you to join..." meaning "We invite you to join" does not sound natural to me.

You are welcome to spend money here.
Your money is welcome here.
We welcome you to spend money here.

 

[stephenlearner]

Thank you for your clarification, Sparky Malarky.
Stephen