Goal and Aim
2021-12-18
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Paul in the Czech Republic.
2Could you tell me the difference between the words aim, target, objective and goal?
3When should I use each one?
4Dear Paul,
5Thank you for writing to us. These words are similar.
6As nouns they all mean something you are trying to do or make happen.
7But we often use two of them to describe an object we can touch.
8Both "target" and "goal" can be used in sports.
9In soccer, players try to get a ball into the other side's goal, an area at the end of the playing field marked by a net.
10We say a player "scored a goal," as in this example:
11Abby Wambach broke the women's soccer record by scoring 184 goals.
12In the sport of archery, you try to make an arrow hit a "target."
13We use the word this way to describe archery:
14To get a high score, your arrow has to hit close to the center of the target.
15When we use "target" to talk about what we want to do in the near term, it is often an exact number, as in this example:
16Our sales target for the coming month is $1000 a day.
17Compare that with the use of "goal" to talk about a more general thing you want to make happen further in the future, as in:
18It is her goal to become the president of the company.
19We use those two words as well as "objective" and "aim" to talk about our purposes.
20Often people decide on their "objectives" as a group or organization. For example:
21The Senator said, "Our objective today is to pass this bill."
22Finally, we can use "aim" as a verb meaning to direct effort toward a goal in this way:
23I aim to plant ten trees today.
24What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
25And that's Ask a Teacher.
26I'm Jill Robbins.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Paul in the Czech Republic. 2Question: 3Could you tell me the difference between the words aim, target, objective and goal? When should I use each one? 4Paul, Czech Republic. 5Answer: 6Dear Paul, 7Thank you for writing to us. These words are similar. As nouns they all mean something you are trying to do or make happen. But we often use two of them to describe an object we can touch. 8Goal and target 9Both "target" and "goal" can be used in sports. In soccer, players try to get a ball into the other side's goal, an area at the end of the playing field marked by a net. We say a player "scored a goal," as in this example: 10Abby Wambach broke the women's soccer record by scoring 184 goals. 11In the sport of archery, you try to make an arrow hit a "target." We use the word this way to describe archery: 12To get a high score, your arrow has to hit close to the center of the target. 13When we use "target" to talk about what we want to do in the near term, it is often an exact number, as in this example: 14Our sales target for the coming month is $1000 a day. 15Compare that with the use of "goal" to talk about a more general thing you want to make happen further in the future, as in: 16It is her goal to become the president of the company. 17Objective and aim 18We use those two words as well as "objective" and "aim" to talk about our purposes. Often people decide on their "objectives" as a group or organization. For example: 19The Senator said, "Our objective today is to pass this bill." 20Finally, we can use "aim" as a verb meaning to direct effort toward a goal in this way: 21I aim to plant ten trees today. 22What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 23And that's Ask a Teacher. 24I'm Jill Robbins. 25Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 26__________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28net - n. a device that is used for catching or holding things or for keeping things out of a space and that is made of pieces of string, rope, wire, etc., woven together with spaces in between 29score - v. to get points, goals, runs, etc., in a game or contes 30archery - n. the sport or skill of shooting with a bow and arrow 31Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.