student asking question

Can I replace "join" with "participate" here?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

In this context, "join" is used as a form of greeting or introduction, and also to indicate that Rachel McAdams will be part of the show. While "participate" is a synonym for "join," in this case, "join" is used here to mean something similar to "taking part in" or "be present for" something. Thus, "participate" is not appropriate for this context. Ex: John and Sarah will be joining us for dinner tonight. Ex: Do you want to ask your classmates to join us for dinner?

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