Questions tagged [difference]
This tag is for questions about the difference in meaning between certain words, phrases, or sentences.
3,898
questions
-1
votes
1
answer
61
views
"You’ve been doing this before." vs. "You've done this before." / What is the difference in this context?
I find it extraordinary that my father’s 120 acres not only supported a wide range of livestock but also enabled him to do arable farming. From earliest childhood I can remember him growing wheat, ...
1
vote
1
answer
38
views
"imprisonment for ten years" VS "imprisonment of ten years" VS "ten years' imprisonment"
my own examples:
(1) imprisonment for ten years
(2) imprisonment of ten years
(3) ten years' imprisonment
As far as I understand, they are all correct.
What's the difference between them?
4
votes
1
answer
497
views
more than what people think vs more than people think
If we look at these two sentences:
A. This is more serious than what people think.
B. This is more serious than people think.
Is using "what" there grammatically incorrect? Or are they the ...
-1
votes
2
answers
59
views
Do you really distinguish the difference between "the shirt's rumpled" and "the shirt's wrinkled" and "the shirt's creased"?
I can not tell the difference between "the shirt's rumpled" and "the shirt's wrinkled" and "the shirt's creased" by just looking at the definitions in dictionaries.
In a ...
-1
votes
2
answers
40
views
"This, I like." VS "This is what I like." — In which cases would you prefer one and in which the other?
from one of answers on english.stackexchange.com:
(1) I like this. — That focuses on the person talking.
(2) This, I like. — That focuses on the object of the statement.
my variant:
(3) This is what ...
0
votes
3
answers
96
views
Shoppers who've filled in everything but the total before they've set foot in the store.../ The exact meaning?
The old woman, rummaging through her purse, asks, "What was that again?" and the cashier - a frog-eyed gum chewer with dreads, a Live Strong bracelet, and a nametag-less green apron - says, &...
0
votes
1
answer
28
views
"Here are more of the most amazing images of exploding cars you'll ever see." — What does "more of" mean here?
an article's headline from jalopnik.com:
(1) Here are more of the most amazing images of exploding cars you'll ever see.
What does "more of" mean here?
Does it mean the number of the most ...
0
votes
0
answers
46
views
Can someone explain the difference of "note" vs "take note"? Thanks
Can someone explain the difference of "note" vs "take note"? Both have the meaning of "paying special attention". Is the "special attention" the same with both ...
1
vote
2
answers
91
views
Present Perfect + After + Present Perfect vs. Past Perfect / What is the difference?
She's prepared roast beef with a hollandaise sauce, a crab salad, and bought some baklava for dessert. "Incredible," Richard says. She watches him eat, eating little herself. When they've ...
-1
votes
1
answer
40
views
What’s the difference between “individuals” and “people”?
I once read a question in which @FumberFingers said that “individuals” are often used when it comes to crime. But today, I saw a case in which “individuals” is used in a different sense:
Wealthy ...
-4
votes
1
answer
145
views
"She smiles in a way that makes him even more uncomfortable." [duplicate]
(From A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe, Part II Cambridge Choir, chapter 27)
Before the play; Imogen making William up
'What are you doing to me?'
'Making you look like a woman, what do you ...
0
votes
1
answer
45
views
What's difference between It's nice to meet you and Nice to meet you?
In some places I heard "Nice to meet you" and in some places "It's nice to meet you".
Is there any difference between them?
0
votes
0
answers
46
views
"Of countless such cavils does a busy lexicographer’s working day consist"— Why does this inversion use "does"? Can I move "consists" forward instead?
blog.collinsdictionary.com:
(1) Of countless such cavils does a busy lexicographer’s working day consist.
The inversion here has the auxiliary verb "does" although, usually, such an ...
1
vote
0
answers
67
views
Any difference between dull and blunt in these contexts?
Okay, what I already know is that blunt is transitive verb (E.g. The setback blunted his desire to become an actor.) whereas dull can be both transitive and intransitive (E.g. The setback dulled his ...
0
votes
1
answer
22
views
When during the trip, we have to stay in a city for a night stop and continue the route tomorrow, what do we call that city? Stop or station?
In the past, travelers traveling to distant cities for business had to spend the night at rest stops along the way. Sometimes these resorts were a special building like a caravanserai, in which case ...