Welcome? popular?

Posted by R. Berg on November 26, 2002

In Reply to: Welcome? popular? posted by Nic on November 26, 2002

: Hello,
: I am not a native English speaker and would like to ask for help. I am very confused by these two adjectives. Is there any possibility that these two can be used interchangeably sometimes? can you elaborate on this? (A) People who know art conversation are popular. (B) People who know art conversation are welcomed. (C) Showing off is not welcome. (D) He's a popular politician. (E) He's a welcome politician. 1.Do A and B mean the same thing? Or semantically, they're slightly different? What about (D) and (E)? 2.Can sentence C use "welcomed" too? If not, why not? Please help me out with these troubling questions. Thank you very very much.

Sentences A and B do not mean the same thing. Something is welcome if at least ONE person (but it could be many people) is happy that it has ARRIVED (or would be happy if it did arrive). Something is popular if MANY people LIKE it. For a person, being popular requires a large group who admire you or want to be with you. But you might be welcome at the home of a friend even if that person were your only friend.

For the same reason, sentences D and E do not mean the same thing.

"Showing off is not welcomed" is correct, but it has a slightly different emphasis than "Showing off is not welcome." Adding the "d" emphasizes the reactions of the people who aren't going to welcome showing off. It puts attention on their disapproval.