Timeline for Can we use the definite article (the) with the word "reception" when it means an office or a desk?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
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| Apr 6, 2021 at 21:44 | comment | added | Tim Sparkles | On further reflection, in my experience "the reception" refers exclusively to an event (e.g. the one occurring immediately after the wedding) and that would be the only context in which sentences #1 and #4 make sense. | |
| Apr 6, 2021 at 21:41 | comment | added | Tim Sparkles | @PcMan I did not refute your statement. I offered an alternate interpretation from a different perspective. In my experience here this is common practice, and we can see it (and our differing perspectives) repeated in the answers and comments below. | |
| Apr 6, 2021 at 20:46 | comment | added | PcMan | @TimSparkles yes, your comment was rude. You refuted my statement, based purely upon Your american perception of the language, not upon the nature of the language itself. It's exactly as if I had talked about the word "colour", and you had butted in and corrected my spelling to "color".. The common word usage of "reception" in the UK, Australia, South Africa and possibly India would be as "the reception". American "english" is the exception, not the rule. | |
| Apr 6, 2021 at 17:11 | comment | added | Tim Sparkles | @PcMan Rude. This forum is for the English language as it is spoken throughout the world. Nobody owns it. | |
| Apr 6, 2021 at 3:49 | comment | added | PcMan | @TimSparkles That's because you are speaking American. This forum is for English. | |
| Apr 6, 2021 at 0:24 | comment | added | Tim Sparkles | @PcMan US native speaker here; I've never heard "the reception" and would consider it ungrammatical. I would refer to "reception" alone as a location or as a role (e.g. "go to reception" or "ask reception" or "ask at reception"), or I would refer to "the reception room", "the reception desk", or "the lobby" as locations. | |
| Apr 5, 2021 at 16:58 | comment | added | PcMan | One would use "the reception" in the same way one would use "the lounge" or "the kitchen". It is a location, not just a role. When referring to the role only, "the" is not needed. All 4 the examples are correct, under the applicable circumstances. | |
| Apr 5, 2021 at 15:15 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 11, 2021 at 3:03 | |||||
| Apr 5, 2021 at 9:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackEnglish/status/1378995854640607233 | ||
| Apr 5, 2021 at 7:51 | comment | added | JLRishe | Personally, I think it sounds more natural to include the word "desk", in which case using the definite article is a given: "I asked the man at the reception desk." | |
| Apr 5, 2021 at 3:30 | vote | accept | Joe Simpson | ||
| Apr 5, 2021 at 1:57 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Apr 4, 2021 at 19:04 | answer | added | Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ | timeline score: 10 | |
| Apr 4, 2021 at 18:24 | answer | added | Edwin Ashworth | timeline score: 5 | |
| Apr 4, 2021 at 17:56 | history | asked | Joe Simpson | CC BY-SA 4.0 |