receipt or reception?

cftranslate · Post by **cftranslate** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 8:21 am

I have read "I confirm receipt of your message..."

Does it sound English if I say "reception" instead.

Do you say "Please confirm RECEIPT/RECEPTION of my message" in English?

Thanks

sita · Post by **sita** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 12:50 pm

Hi!

Receipt is correct:

= the act or process of receiving
Something received -- usually used in plural
A written acknowledgement of receiving of goods or money etc

Reception = a wedding reception or a hotel reception ....etc

Best wishes
Siân

Celeste · Post by **Celeste** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 9:52 pm

Receipt is for things;reception is for people.

Casiopea · Post by **Casiopea** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 2:29 pm

Do you say "Please confirm RECEIPT/RECEPTION of my message" in English?

Actually, I've never seen nor heard of either being used.

"Please confirm that you have received my message."

All the best,

Cas

Lorikeet · Post by **Lorikeet** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 3:47 pm

Casiopea wrote:
Do you say "Please confirm RECEIPT/RECEPTION of my message" in English?
Actually, I've never seen nor heard of either being used.

"Please confirm that you have received my message."

All the best,

Cas

"Please confirm receipt of this message." sounds like a formal way of saying "Please confirm that you have received this message." I would expect the former in a business context.

sita · Post by **sita** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 3:56 pm

I have taught business English for over 17 years in companies
and I am a translator.......

the phrase

please confirm you (have) received my email/letter/order etc etc

I have read that hundreds of times

Siân

(tired)

szwagier · Post by **szwagier** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 7:50 am

decei(p)t or deception?

Stephen Jones · Post by **Stephen Jones** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 6:19 pm

You confirm/acknowledge receipt of a message.

Reception is a place or the manner in which people are treated on first or subsequent arrival.

dduck · Post by **dduck** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 3:22 pm

Celeste wrote:Receipt is for things;reception is for people.

If I move my TV antenna around do I get better receipt or reception?

Iain

szwagier · Post by **szwagier** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 1:23 pm

And if I sell my baby to a white slave trader, do I get a reception or a receipt

sita · Post by **sita** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 2:04 pm

Depends if the baby is attractive

Harzer · Post by **Harzer** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 11:17 am

Conceit or conception?

kevinlin1222 · Post by **kevinlin1222** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:57 pm

According to Celeste, Receipt is for things;reception is for people.
But I just came across one example in a dictionary: Her calm reception of the bad news surprised her friends. This seems contradictory to the above-mentioned rule...

Roger · Post by **Roger** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:37 pm

"Receipt" is an ACT of receiving something, i.e. money; an acknowledgement;
"reception" is a) a social gathering or function; b) a place where visitors are registered (hotel reception); c) the act of receiving something, for instance broadcasts.

My Dingaling · Post by **My Dingaling** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 2:40 pm

Obviously, everyone has given wonderful replies to this question, still I believe this to be the correct way to understand the answer. The nominalization of many English verbs is easily done by adding the suffix '-tion'; for instance, the word 'explain' is the verb, 'explaination' is the noun. In this light it is obvious that 'reception' is the nominal form of 'receive'. A 'receipt' is a noun and a verb and you do not need to nominalized it with the '-tion' suffix.