English speaking situational dialogue invitation

The background of this conversation is this. After the Lockes accepted a suggestion from a Hal & Hardy representative regarding the color of the packaging, the owners decided to celebrate. Harvey therefore extended an invitation to the Lockes.

Harvey: Now. I have a surprise. We’ve booked the Southern Tower restaurant to celebrate our partnership.

Harvey: Now. I have a surprise. To celebrate our partnership, we made a reservation at the South Tower Restaurant.

Harvey: We’d like to invite you to dinner.

Lok: The Southern Tower? We tried to go there but it’s booked out for months.

Lok: You mean the Southern Tower restaurant? We had wanted to eat there, but the restaurant had been booked months in advance.

Harvey: Ah yes… but Douglas has a lot of influence in Sydney! We've booked a table for 7 o'clock. Caroline and Douglas will be there too.

Ha V: That's true, but Douglas is a very influential figure in Sydney. We reserved a table for 7pm tonight. Caroline and Douglas will also be in attendance.

Lian: How wonderful. We’d love to come.

Lian: How wonderful. We were happy to go as promised.

Lok: Yes, thank you.

In this part of the conversation, Harvey used a very standard English expression when he invited Mr. and Mrs. Locke to dinner. He said:

Harvey: We’d like to invite you to dinner.

In addition to this more formal statement, we can also use the following sentence patterns to express the same meaning.

Would you like to come to lunch?

We’d be pleased if you could join us for dinner.

We’ve booked a table. We hope you can join us.

We have booked a restaurant and hope you can join us.

Now let us practice these sentences with the teacher.

We'd like to invite you to dinner.

Would you like to come to lunch?

We'd be pleased if you could join us for dinner.

We've booked a table. We hope you can join us.

After receiving the invitation, the Lockes readily accepted Harvey's kindness. They said:

Lian: How wonderful. We’d love to come.

Lian: How wonderful. We were happy to go as promised.

Lok: Yes, thank you.

When accepting invitations from others, we can also say this:

That’s very kind. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your kindness.

Yes, I’d be pleased to accept.

Okay, I’m happy to accept the appointment.

How can I resist such a gracious invitation!

How can I resist such a gracious invitation?

Please practice these sentences with the teacher.

We'd love to come.

Yes, I'd be pleased to accept.

Yes, thank you.

How can I resist such a gracious invitation!

As the saying goes, if people respect me a foot, I will return a foot to others. This also shows from a certain perspective that it is really difficult to refuse someone else's warm invitation. But sometimes we have to do this. So what should we say when we decline someone’s invitation?

That’s very kind of you but I’m afraid I have a prior engagement.

Thank you very much for your kindness, but I already have an appointment.

I’m sorry, I have to decline. I have family commitments.

I’m sorry, I can’t accept the invitation because there are some things at home.

I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it. I have an important appointment that night.

I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it. I have an important date that night.

Sorry, I can’t, I’m busy that night. But thanks anyway.

I’m sorry because I was too busy that night and couldn’t accept the invitation. But thank you very much.

I wonder if you have noticed that when declining an invitation from others, it is best to simply state the reason out of politeness. Okay, now please follow our teacher to practice.

That's very kind of you but I'm afraid I have a prior engagement.

I'm sorry, I have to decline. I have family commitments.

< p>I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it. I have an important appointment that night.

Sorry, I can't, I'm busy that night. But thanks anyway.

During this conversation, the staff of Hal & Hardee were entertaining their business partners, Mr. and Mrs. Locke, at the South Tower Restaurant. Please pay special attention to new words and phrases in the following part of the conversation.

Douglas: This is the highest restaurant in the southern hemisphere.

Lian: What a view. There’s the Opera House. We were there

yesterday.

Lian: What a view. That's the Sydney Opera House, where we visited yesterday.

Waiter: Your menus.

Waiter: Please take a look at the menus.

Lian: Thank you.

Waiter: Would you like to order drinks now?

Lian: I’ll just have a water to start, thanks.

Lian: Could you please give me a glass of water first, thank you.

Douglas: We’ll have a bottle of this champagne please.

Douglas: Please give us a bottle of champagne.

Waiter: Fine. I’ll be back to take your dinner orders.

Waiter: Okay. I'll come back and write some menu for you later.

Lian: Oh, there’s so much to choose from. What do you recommend?

Lian: Oh, this menu is so rich.

Do you have any special dishes you can recommend?

Douglas: Well if you like seafood, the roasted lobster here is delicious.

Douglas: If you like seafood, the roasted lobster here is very delicious.

Lok: That sounds good to me.

Lian: I’ll have the Peking Duck.

Lian: Then I’ll order the Peking Duck.

Lok: Where is the Opera House?

Lok: Which direction is the Sydney Opera House?

Harvey: This is a revolving restaurant, Lok. We’ll see it again soon.

Harvey: This is a revolving restaurant, Lok. We'll see the Sydney Opera House again soon.

Lok: Oh, marvelous!

Lok: Oh, this is great.

At this point in the conversation, I wonder if you have noticed that one of the most commonly used sentence patterns when ordering food in English in restaurants is "'ll have..." which means "what kind of food should I order?" . You just need to add the name of the dish after this sentence pattern. For example:

I’ll have the duck.

I’ll have the chicken.

I’ll have some chicken.

I’ll have the beef, thanks.

I’ll have some beef, thanks.

We’ll have a bottle of white wine, thank you.

Okay, now let us practice these sentences with the teacher.

I'll have the duck.

I'll have the chicken.

I'll have the beef, thanks.

We'll have a bottle of white wine, thank you.

If it is our first time to visit a restaurant, we may not know much about the restaurant's special dishes. In this case, please ask the service staff for recommendations. The recipe can be said to be a good choice. We can say this to the waiter:

Lian: Oh, there’s so much to choose from. What do you recommend?

Lian: Oh, this menu is so rich. Do you have any special dishes you can recommend?

In addition, we can also say:

What do you suggest?

Do you have anything to recommend?

What’s good here?

What’s your specialty here?

Okay, please practice with the teacher.

What do you recommend?

What do you suggest?

What's good here?

Although there are differences between East and West in culture There are some differences, but the dining etiquette is pretty much the same. For example, do not talk with food in your mouth, eat without showing your teeth, cover your mouth with one hand when using a toothpick, etc. Also, if you want to access food that is out of your reach, do not reach across the table as this is rude. You can ask someone at your desk to help you by saying this.

Excuse me, could you pass the sauce?

Okay, now let me summarize some of what we learned in this lesson.

When extending invitations to others, we can say this:

We'd like to invite you to dinner.

Would you like to come to lunch ?

We've booked a table. We hope you can join us.

If you can accept the other party's invitation, we can reply to the other party like this:

We'd love to come.

Yes, I'd be pleased to accept.

If we cannot accept the other party's invitation, you can politely decline the invitation using the following sentences:

That's very kind of you but I'm afraid I have a prior engagement.

I'm sorry, I have to decline. I have family commitments.