Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sue79]

Hi, I am an English major
During class, I wrote an essay on what i have done during the weekend.
I wrote that i took my foreign exchange student friends for shopping.
However, the instrutor said that "taking someone out" means that the one who takes them out is paying for the shopping. For an example, if you are taking someone out for dinner, you buy the person dinner.

But i took my friends to show them around. I didn't pay anything. It wasn't like that. My intention was a tour.

Pls. help me on this. I'm very curious.
Does "taking someone out for something" always imply paying for them?

[CP]

No, it doesn't always mean that you are paying. Your instructor is overgeneralizing.

If you invite someone to dinner, you are implying that you will pay unless you say otherwise. "Going Dutch" or "Dutch treat" means that each person pays for him- or herself. And if a boy asks a girl out on a date, usually the boy pays, unless they have some other arrangement.

But taking someone out for a shopping trip, or on a nature hike, or for a bike ride, or for a tour of the neighborhood, or many other things, does not imply that you are paying.
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