Invite and Einladen

Read the following sentence:

“The organization team is going to Joe’s Pizza after the seminar, and we’d like to invite everyone to join us there for dinner.”

What does this sentence imply?

1. The organization team is going to pay for everyone’s pizza.

2. The organization team wants to have dinner with everyone at Joe’s Pizza.

If you guessed option 2, the organization team wants to have dinner with everyone at Joe’s Pizza, you are correct. The German verb “einladen” does not mean exactly the same thing as the English verb “to invite.” This can cause embarrassing difficulties if you assume that your companions will pay for your meal just because you’ve been “invited” to dinner. If someone invites you to do something, it just means that they ask you to join them. It does not refer to payment in any way.

If you want to make it clear that you would like to pay for someone else’s meal, what can you say? You CANNOT say, “You are invited.” This phrase does not make sense to native English speakers – they will have no idea what you mean. Try these phrases:

· “It’s my treat.”

· “This one’s on me.”

· “Let me get this.”

When speaking with non-native speakers, it is best to be a little more direct.

· “Let me get the bill/check.”

What else can you say if you would like someone to accompany you, but you do not intend to pay for them? Try:

· “Care to join me for dinner?”

· “Would you like to go for a drink?”

· “We’re going down the street to a restaurant after the meeting. Would you like to join us?”