Is My Interpretation Correct?
Feb 11th 2012 16:08
english
word
difference
meaning
I've been wondering about the difference between some English synonyms. They are talent, gift, genius, skill, ability and capability. Once I get stuck I can't move on to the next step, so I'm going to make a story with these words to grasp the each meaning.
Here is the story that I made.
A 12-year-old girl is living in a small town. She hasn't had the ability to see since she was born. However, her doctor told her parents that she will be able to have a capability to see after having surgery. Even though she can't see anything, she has a gift for music, especially singing. She has a talent for singing and it blows everyone away. What surprise people is that she can replay every piece of music with piano as soon as she hears of it. What a genius! She already can speak 3 different languages because she have lived in several countries. She thinks speaking different languages is a kind of playing different type of music. She is dedicated to brush up those speaking skills almost every day.
That's it for the story. Probably some of those words are interchangeable and there might be another good word instead of them. I hope if you give me some new words or phrases and then I can expand my vocab on this entry. Thank you for your help.
Here is the story that I made.
A 12-year-old girl is living in a small town. She hasn't had the ability to see since she was born. However, her doctor told her parents that she will be able to have a capability to see after having surgery. Even though she can't see anything, she has a gift for music, especially singing. She has a talent for singing and it blows everyone away. What surprise people is that she can replay every piece of music with piano as soon as she hears of it. What a genius! She already can speak 3 different languages because she have lived in several countries. She thinks speaking different languages is a kind of playing different type of music. She is dedicated to brush up those speaking skills almost every day.
That's it for the story. Probably some of those words are interchangeable and there might be another good word instead of them. I hope if you give me some new words or phrases and then I can expand my vocab on this entry. Thank you for your help.
- 18
- 7
- 2
Journals Statistics
| Total | 25 entries |
|---|---|
| This Month | 0 entries |
| This week | 0 enrties |
Latest entry
| The Answers To The Riddles. (2) |
| Japanese Riddles (8) |
| What Mushurooms Mean Is... (11) |
| Weird Japanese Superstitions (21) |
| Is My Interpretation Correct? (9) |
Latest comments
| May 21st iebpk |
| May 21st iebpk |
| May 15th toko-mom |
| May 10th GoodGrief |
| May 09th toko-mom |
Entries by Month
| 2012 |
|---|
| - May (2) |
| - April (1) |
| - February (3) |
| - January (1) |
| 2011 |
| - December (1) |
| - September (1) |
| - August (2) |
| - July (1) |
| - June (1) |
| - February (3) |
| - January (1) |
| 2010 |
| - December (2) |
| - November (5) |
| 2008 |
| - October (1) |
I've been wondering about the differences between some English synonyms.
Once I get stuck I can't move on to the next step, so I'm going to make a story with these words to grasp the meaning of each.
However, her doctor told her parents that she will be able to have the capability to see after having surgery.
What surprises people is that she can replay every piece of music on the piano as soon as she hears of it.
She already can speak 3 different languages because she has lived in several countries.
She thinks speaking different languages is a kind of like playing different types of music.
I hope if you give me some new words or phrases I can then expand my vocab on this entry.
I've been wondering about the differences between some English synonyms. [The singular form "difference" only makes sense for comparing exactly two things.]
Once I get stuck I can't move on to the next step, so I'm going to make a story with these words to grasp the meaning of each (of them). [Alternative: "... the meaning of each word."]
She hasn't had the ability to see since she was born. [More natural: She hasn't been able to see since she was born. She has been blind since birth.]
However, her doctor told her parents that she will be able to have the capability of seeing after having surgery. [This is rather unnatural sounding. The combination of "able" and "capable", which are very close in meaning, is particularly awkward. Alternative: "... she will have the capacity of/for sight/vision after..."]
Her talent for singing and it blows everyone away.
What surprises people is that she can replay any piece of music on the piano as soon as she hears of it. [To "hear of" or "hear about" something means to be told in words that something exists, or what it is like. When you are talking about perceiving a sound, you hear the sound, you do not hear of it or hear about it.]
She can already speak three different languages because she has lived in several countries.
She thinks speaking different languages is like playing different kinds/types of music.
She is dedicated to polishing those speaking skills almost every day.
Probably some of those words are interchangeable and there might be other good words instead of them.
I hope if you give me some new words or phrases and then I can expand my vocabulary by means of this entry.
Some nuances:
Gift and talent suggest abilities one is born with.
Genius is usually an ability which is greater than that of most other people.
Skill and ability are fairly general words; unlike gift and talent, they may be acquired through hard work. (It takes hard work to make the most of a gift or being talented, but one has an advantage to start with.)
Capacity literally means how much something can contain, but it is also often used for ability or capability to do something.
Capable means "able to do (something) well", so capability means "ability to do (something) well."
Examples are probably more useful than these descriptions, but I assume that you have already seen many examples.
I think I should polish my writing skills by means of your corrections and suggestions. :)
I hope you will give me some new words or phrases, and then I ...
I hope (that) if you give me some new words or phrases, (then) I ...
If you use the word "if" for the first clause after "I hope", then the second clause cannot be preceded by "and", and the word "then" is optional (as it is in this sentence).
"Brush up on" and "polish" both imply reviewing information or practicing skills. "Brush up on" suggests that this is necessary to bring the skills or knowledge up to a level which is expected. "Polish" suggests that one is starting from a level of skills or knowledge which is already good (better than one would expect) and making it even better.
ちえさんの場合には確かに「polish」という表現を使うほうが正しいですね。^^
I didn't know such difference between them. I thought "polish" implies to sophisticate skills. I just imagined the floor brushed up and polished. I'd like the polished floor for my room. ;)