Wednesday, September 13, 2017

(Student question) Exactly, absolutely, precisely, definitely....

Hi! I'm Taka.

I have questions about this: "exactly, absolutely, precisely, definitely" - what's different?

And

Recognize, notice

That's all!!

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Hi Taka

1. "Exact" and "precise" are synonyms. The antonyms would be: 

approximate, inexact, imprecise


  • If you add "ly" to the end the word becomes an adverb, but that doesn't change the meaning, just the way we use the word with other words
  • Adjectives simply describe nouns. 
  • Adverbs do lots of things. They describe actions (to speak slowly, carefully, intelligently, precisely, passionately), they modify adjectives (deeply dishonest, extremely funny) or modify whole sentences (Truly, it was the worst film I've ever seen). 
We can often use "exact" and "precise" in the same way, but not always.

For example you can say "I don't remember what happened precisely" or "I don't remember what happened exactly."

But "exactly the same age" is more likely than "precisely the same age".

2. "Absolute" and "definite" are not synonyms. Absolute means "total", whereas definite means "certain and obvious". 


  • Definitely = clearly

"He's clearly had too much to drink" = definitely, obviously, there's no doubt, unmistakably

"He's a total idiot" = he's an absolute idiot. Complete, 100%, he couldn't be stupider. It is obvious, but the emphasis is on the completeness not the obviousness. 

3. "To recognise" and "to notice" are similar - good question.


  • Recognise is mental
  • Notice is sensory

"I noticed that my hand was bleeding" means I saw it.

"I recognised him" means I knew I had seen him before. 

Hope that helps,

G

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