I still wrestle with the usage of welcome.
Having read lots of threads about welcome, I begin to think "welcome to do something" is ungrammatical or very unusual.
Probably this structure comes directly from Chinese.
Similar sentences you may find online :
Welcome to take the subway.
Welcome to take my taxi.
Welcome to use the ATM.
Welcome to visit our university.
Welcome to use the online banking system.
All of these are translated from Chinese, and express an attitude stronger than permission and milder than or equal to encouragement.
Some English teachers in China, in order to correct them, change all of the above sentences into these:
Thank you for taking the subway.
Thank you for taking my taxi.
Thank you for using the ATM.
Thank you for visiting our university.
Thank you for using the online banking system.
I agree they are grammatically correct, but I suppose they, unlike "welcome to do something" (they are grammatical in Chinese versions), express different meanings and suit different contexts.
I tend to use "Thank you for doing something" when somebody has done it.
For example, the taxi driver would say "Thank you for taking my taxi", when the passenger is about to leave him/her.
Do you think my opinion is correct?
How can we express the meanings that the structure "welcome to do something" tries to convey?
Does "you are welcome to do something" work?
You are welcome to take the subway.
You are welcome to take my taxi.
You are welcome to use the ATM.
You are welcome to visit our university.
You are welcome to use the online banking system.
Maybe I am mistaken, but I've got an impression that these sentences convey permission rather than encouragement.
What do you think?
Or can we say these sentences below to get across the point expressed by "welcome to do something"?
Welcome! Please take the subway.
Welcome! Please take my taxi.
Welcome! Please use the ATM.
Welcome! Please visit our university.
Welcome! Please use the online banking system.
Are you OK? Do they sound weird?
Could you shed some light? Any comments will be appreciated.