请帖

• Pinyin: qǐng tiě
• Hanzi breakdown: 请 = 讠+ 青 (invite); 帖 = 巾 + 占 (card/written paper/notice)

Meaning

An invitation card; a written note inviting someone to attend an event such as a wedding, birthday party, or celebration. Slightly less formal than 请柬 in many contexts.

请帖 and 请柬 are often used interchangeably for weddings and social events, though 请帖 is more common in everyday spoken contexts. 发请帖 means to send out invitations. 电子请帖 (digital invitation card) is widely used among younger generations.

Examples

1. 她已将婚宴的请帖一一发给了所有亲友，只等宾客届时莅临共襄盛举。 She has sent out the wedding banquet invitations one by one to all family and friends, and now she’s just waiting for everyone to attend and celebrate together.
2. 好友三十岁生日派对即将举行，她花了整整一个下午亲手书写了五十张请帖。 Her friend’s 30th birthday party is coming up, and she spent an entire afternoon hand-writing fifty invitations.
3. 如今越来越多的年轻人选择发送精美的电子请帖，既环保便捷又不失个性。 Nowadays, more and more young people choose beautifully designed electronic invitations—they’re eco-friendly and convenient without sacrificing personality.

Usage Guide

Context: social, weddings, celebrations, daily life

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 收到婚礼请帖后，他立刻在日历上标注了婚礼日期，并提前订好了前往的交通与住宿。(After receiving the wedding invitation, he immediately marked the date on his calendar and booked his transport and accommodation well in advance.)
• 她设计了一款融合传统剪纸元素的请帖，令每一位收到的宾客都爱不释手、赞不绝口。(She designed an invitation incorporating traditional paper-cutting motifs, and every guest who received it admired it endlessly.)

Don't Say

• 我给导师发了一张请帖，请他指导论文 — use 书面邀请函 or 正式邀请 for academic or professional requests; 请帖 is for social celebrations, not for academic consultation

Origin & History

请 (invite/request) + 帖 (card/notice/written paper) — a written inviting paper

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal