Chapter 05 Exercise 18, Page 87

Exercise 18

Page 87

What’s the difference?

1) Rain vs. Showers

Many people treat these words as having the same meaning. For people who follow the weather, however, there is a difference. Rain is steady and covers a larger area.

Showers tend to be more scattered and do not last as long. There is an easy way to remember the difference: think about taking a bath vs. taking a shower. Most of us get wetter will me take a bath and when we stand in the shower.

Now, which expression do you think is correct: It’s raining out or It’s showering out? If you chose the first one, you are right. We use only rain, not shower, as a verb to talk about the weather.

2) Thief vs. Robber vs. Burglar Another set of words with distinct differences is thief, robber and burglar. A thief takes physical properties like TVs, computers, or money, but there is no violence or force.

Robbers also take property, but the robber uses force or the threat of force, as with a gun. A burglar illegally enters a structure with the intent to commit a crime.

If some of this seems confusing, you are in good company. Many native speakers of English have never learned these subtleties and don’t make distinctions among these words.