Sharing is caring!

Many native and non-native speakers of English alike are on the same boat regarding the confusion as to whether “Welcome aboard” or “Welcome on board” is grammatically correct.

To shed light on these language-related peculiarities, this post tackles the grammatical nuances between “Welcome aboard” and “Welcome on board,” together with some contextualization for an easier ride.

Let’s dive right in. 

 

The difference between “welcome on board” and  “welcome aboard”

• “Welcome on board” and “Welcome aboard” both mean “We are pleased to welcome you.”
• Both expressions are typically used to greet newly-hired employees or passengers.
• “Welcome on board” is largely used to welcome people who are about to board a transportation vessel, such as a ship, an aircraft, or a train.
•  “Welcome aboard” is more widespread and hence, a more standard greeting than “Welcome on board.”

 

People asking questions about the differences between or among certain expressions is an appealing phenomenon, at least for those engaged and interested in language studies.

When people ask the difference between “translate into” and “translate to” or “welcome aboard” and “welcome on board,” intellectual discussions are prompted to occur.

Such kinds of inquiries meanwhile suggest that more and more people are getting keener on refining their knowledge of how languages work.

And in effect, language enthusiasts are also given more opportunities to share what academic scholars have tediously worked on over the years.

By and large, the positive implications become farther-reaching when specific linguistic phenomena, such as today’s topic, are granularly discussed.

To differentiate “Welcome aboard” and “Welcome on board,” we can make use of established concepts in semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to name a few.

We can begin our granular discussion by analyzing the difference between the words “on board” and “aboard.”

 

“On board vs. “aboard”

The confusion in the expressions “Welcome on board” and “Welcome aboard” particularly lies in the words “on board” and “aboard.”

So, the subsections below aim to define each word in detail.

 

The different meanings of “on board”

“On board” can be used in several parts of speech, but its meaning largely stays the same. “On board” means “on or onto” a vessel or organization.

“On board” is mainly used as an adverb and preposition. But, it also has a one-word spelling variant “onboard”, which can be used as an adjective, verb, or noun.

 

“On board” as an adverb

The adverb “on board” basically means “being on” or “to move onto” a vessel, company, team, or organization.

A ship crew member may use the phrase “Welcome on board!” as he or she greets passengers getting onto the vessel.

Example:

 
An aircraft crew member may also say “Welcome on board!” as he or she greets passengers as they enter the plane.

Example:

 
Not limited to the transportation industry, a staff member from the human resource department may also use “Welcome on board!” at a company orientation.

Example:

 

“On board” as a preposition

The preposition “on board” means the same as the adverb. The only difference now is the way it is used in a sentence.

Prepositions are small connective devices used to link words and phrases, especially nouns. So, when you use “on board” as a preposition, make sure a noun phrase comes after it.

A ship or plane captain may say the following greeting as passengers board a cruise ship, for example.

Example:

 
If you are new to a company or project, you might also receive a welcome-on-board email from your coworker.

Example:

 

“On board” as an adjective

The adjective “onboard” (note that in this case, the adjective is actually written in one single ‘word’) typically comes before a noun, and it may also be alternatively written with a hyphen between “on” and “board,” and that is, “on-board.”

Example:

 
The alternative spelling “on-board” can only be used as an adjective, thereby making this variation less popular than “on board,” which is, again, either an adverb or preposition.

Example:

 

“On board” as a noun

Meanwhile, the noun form of “on board” is “onboarding.” Typically used in the context of human resources, we commonly hear phrases like “onboarding process” or “onboarding program.”

Example:

 

“On board” as a verb

Still in the context of human resources, “on board” may also be colloquially used as a verb in one word, pretty much like how “onboarding” works.

Example:

 

The different meanings of “aboard”

“Aboard” is mainly used either as an adverb or preposition in American English. However, an additional part of speech is used in British English, which is an adjective.

As an adverb, “aboard” is used similarly to “on board” or “onboard.” Being a letter shorter than the latter expressions, “aboard” is definitely more practical.

This could be a utilitarian argument as to why “aboard” is the most popular word among all the others being discussed in this post.

 

“Aboard” as an adverb

The adverb “aboard” is mostly used to modify a verb too, and it is often found at the end of the sentence or the greeting itself.

Example:

 

“Aboard” as a preposition

As mentioned, “aboard” may also be used as a preposition in sentences, and hence, we must see a nominal word or a noun phrase after it.

“Aboard” and the noun phrase succeeding is a prepositional phrase whose job is to locate the verb.

Example:

 

“Aboard” as an adjective

Besides being an adverb and a preposition, British English users also make use of “aboard” as an adjective that usually comes after a noun. 

We call this a postpositive or postnominal adjective in syntax. Examples of postpositive adjectives are the latter words in “attorney general,” “something strange,” and “mission impossible.”

Example:

 
In a nutshell, the meaning or sense of “onboard,” “aboard,” “on board,” and “on-board” remain consistent even if they are used in different parts of speech.

These nuances, albeit challenging, are some of the reasons why the English language is paradoxically complex yet simple at the same time, just like all other languages out there.

Now that we know how “on board” is different and similar to “aboard,” we can now proceed with discussing how these words behave when paired with “welcome.”

 

“Welcome on board” in more detail

“Welcome on board” is largely used to welcome people who are about to board a transportation vessel, such as a ship, an aircraft, or a train.

Let’s just say that you are about to spend a week-long trip to Hawaii to get away from the hustles and bustles of the city.

At the airport, it is common to hear flight attendants saying “Welcome onboard!” to passengers who are about to enter Boeing 717.

When it’s your turn to get into the aircraft service door, you should not get surprised if and when the attendant greets you using this expression.

Anyone using this expression to you is expected to accompany it with a cheerful tone and smile, although you might not appreciate the lovely gesture as much if you hate flying.
 
Meanwhile, “Welcome on board” may also be idiomatically used in the context of organizational employment to acclimatize new employees.

Although the context is different, the intent of using the expression remains the same, and that is to make newcomers less anxious about their job as well as the people they are going to work with.

The neutrally-formal connotation of “Welcome on board” is great for both written and spoken discourses, such as in emails and welcome addresses.

Here’s how you might use “Welcome on board” in an email message:

Example:

 

“Welcome aboard” in more detail

“Welcome aboard” is simply a more popular variant of “Welcome on board” in the sense that it is used more often than the latter expression.

To a greater extent, this greeting is also used by flight attendants, mess attendants, and train conductors in welcoming passengers who are about to board the vessel.

Needless to say, someone would likely greet you with the expression “Welcome aboard” once you get into the Seven Seas Explorer for your seven-day Caribbean cruise.

It is needless to say that someone would likely greet you with the expression “Welcome aboard” once you get into the Seven Seas Explorer for your seven-day Caribbean cruise.

I’m not sure whether you like flying or cruising better, but it would be polite if you respond to the greeting cheerfully with a quick “Thank you” the moment you hear it.

Similar to “Welcome on board,” “Welcome aboard” is also used in accommodating newly-hired employees, which often takes place on or before the person reports for his or her first day of work.

To put it simply, “Welcome aboard” is just an idiomatic way of saying “Welcome to the team” or its alternatives like “Welcome to the company” and “Warm welcome.”

Here’s an example of an email making use of “Welcome aboard.”

Example:

 

 

“Welcome on board” vs. “Welcome aboard”: Final Thoughts

The short answer to the question above is that it is generally not necessary to worry about whether one of the two expressions is superior to the other.

This is because both expressions are interchangeable, and neither would create any misinterpretation.

 

Frequently Asked Questions on “Welcome onboard” vs. “Welcome aboard”

 

What does “Welcome on board” mean when said to a new employee?

In the context of employment, “Welcome on board” particularly means “Welcome to the team” or “Welcome to the company.” This is a greeting expression used to acclimatize or accommodate new employees.

 

What is a synonym for “Welcome on board”?

“Welcome to the squad” is a more casual synonym for “Welcome on board,” while “Welcome to the company” is a more formal one.