呼びます, 招待します, 誘います

[Maxful]

Hi, I just came across these 3 verbs - 呼びます, 招待します, 誘います - and all this verbs mean "Invite" so I was wondering if there is any difference between the 3 verbs?

[Decimus]

Originally Posted by Maxful

Hi, I just came across these 3 verbs - 呼びます, 招待します, 誘います - and all this verbs mean "Invite" so I was wondering if there is any difference between the 3 verbs?

From what I understand, 呼ぶ is informal and impersonal (as in "to call some one over."), 誘う　is informal but personal, while 招待する is formal and impersonal (like inviting people to a formal reception or something.)

Probably has a lot to do with uchi-soto distinctions, but I'll leave that to a native speaker to explain as it's likely that I have misunderstood something.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Maxful

Hi, I just came across these 3 verbs - 呼びます, 招待します, 誘います - and all this verbs mean "Invite" so I was wondering if there is any difference between the 3 verbs?

I'm going to do a little bit of over-simplification in my explanation for the beginning and intermidiate students. Otherwise, it will have to be a two-page post.

呼ぶ = to invite someone to an event occuring at the inviter's place or an event sponsored by the inviter.

誘う = to invite someone to an event that a third person has invited the speaker to attend.

招待する = synonymous to 呼ぶ but it's a much more formal word. If you are inviting a frend to a BBQ at your house, you won't use this word. It's used for more important events such as a wedding or birthday party at a better-than-average restaurant.

I assume that you know that on-reading words are almost always more formal than their kun-reading synonyms.

[Maxful]

Thanks for the kind explanations, Decimus san and Masaegu san.


There is something which I am still not sure about which is should I use 誘うor 呼ぶ when telling someone that I was invited by the inviter who is the host/sponsor of the event.


For example:

私はスミスさんにカラオケに誘われました。

or

私はスミスさんにカラオケに呼ばれました。

[Decimus]

Originally Posted by Maxful

Thanks for the kind explanations, Decimus san and Masaegu san.


There is something which I am still not sure about which is should I use 誘うor 呼ぶ when telling someone that I was invited by the inviter who is the host/sponsor of the event.


For example:

私はスミスさんにカラオケに誘われました。

or

私はスミスさんにカラオケに呼ばれました。

I would go with "私はスミスさんにカラオケに誘われました。" I could very well be wrong though, so it's best to wait for Masaegu's answer.

On a side note, is 「カラオケ」 derived from　「空のオーケストラ」?

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Maxful

Thanks for the kind explanations, Decimus san and Masaegu san.

There is something which I am still not sure about which is should I use 誘うor 呼ぶ when telling someone that I was invited by the inviter who is the host/sponsor of the event.

For example:

私はスミスさんにカラオケに誘われました。
or
私はスミスさんにカラオケに呼ばれました。

The two sentences have different meanings.

First one means "I was asked to go karaoke by Smith."

Second one means (and I'm changing the voice) "Smith called me and asked me to come to the karaoke." Smith was already at the karaoke as he made this call.

[Decimus]

Originally Posted by masaegu

The two sentences have different meanings.

First one means "I was asked to go karaoke by Smith."

Second one means (and I'm changing the voice) "Smith called me and asked me to come to the karaoke." Smith was already at the karaoke as he made this call.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation.

May I rephrase it just to double-check that I have understood your post properly?

When 「呼ぶ」, is used, it indicates movement (or rather, direction) towards the agent's (Whoever is doing the 「呼ぶ」) location.　
When 「誘う」, is used, it indicates movement towards somewhere else.

Sort of like the distinction between 「あの」 and　「その」?

[Maxful]

Hi masaegu san, so what should I say if I am trying to say "I was invited by sumisu (the host/sponsor) to karaoke."?

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Decimus

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation.

May I rephrase it just to double-check that I have understood your post properly?

When 「呼ぶ」, is used, it indicates movement (or rather, direction) towards the agent's (Whoever is doing the 「呼ぶ」) location.　
When 「誘う」, is used, it indicates movement towards somewhere else.

Sort of like the distinction between 「あの」 and　「その」?

Everything you stated for the double checking is correct. However, this is much more complicated than what we have discussed so far.

呼ぶ has several meanings and I'm going to address only two of them as that's what's pertinent to the original question about 呼ぶ/誘う/招待する.

1. to call someone and say "Hey, come over here!" This is exactly how the word was used in the phrase about karaoke.

2. to formally invite someone to an event. This is about a carefully planned event like a wedding to which you would receive an invitation well in advance. This is not about suddenly getting a call from a drunk friend who wants you to get your ass over to the sleezy Irish bar at 2 am.

Thus, the locations of the events are different between 1 and 2 even though the same verb is being used.
_______

誘う　is always casual. You don't 誘う people to a wedding. You can only 誘う people to the bar, to a hiking trip, to a poetry reading, a casual pot-luck, etc. The location may be "to the inviter" if that's where he lives/works/stays at or it may be somewhere else.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Maxful

Hi masaegu san, so what should I say if I am trying to say "I was invited by sumisu (the host/sponsor) to karaoke."?

「（私は）スミスさんにカラオケに誘われました。」

But as I stated above, if Smith suddenly called you from the karaoke and asked you to come over, you must use 呼ばれました.

You don't really say 「（私は）スミスさんにカラオケに招待されました。」 　because karaoke is not such a formal event.