Mission vs. Assignment
2022-06-11
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Aiping about the difference between mission and assignment in one of our stories.
2Dear teacher,
3I read an article by VOA Learning English titled "After Helping Fight COVID-19 US military plans for Next Pandemic."
4There are two words: "mission "and "assignment."
5Can you tell me the difference between these two words?
6Thanks!
7Aiping
8Dear Aiping,
9Thank you for your question! Let us look at these two words within the story.
10We will start with the word "mission" and then move onto "assignment."
11Firstly, we have the word "mission."
12Let us look at how the word "mission" is used in the story:
13"The United States military deployed about 24,000 troops to help state and local governments across the country fight COVID-19.
14That mission has ended, at least for now."
15"And, officials are seeking to learn from the experiences of service members who took part in the COVID-19 mission."
16"(The patient) is going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission."
17The word mission in these three sentences from the story refer to the US military's deployment of troops to help local governments fight COVID-19.
18In this way, we can think of "mission" as an important operation, effort, or task.
19The US military defines "mission" as "a task together with a purpose."
20This may be an overall mission or larger goal, like to defend the United States, or it might be a specific task, like helping local governments to fight COVID-19.
21So we can think of "mission" as a larger goal or objective.
22Many organizations and even individual people use the word "mission."
23For example,
24The charity's mission is to provide shelter and food to young people without homes.
25My mission for the summer is to take an hour-long walk every day.
26Next, we have the word "assignment." Let us look at how we use it in the story:
27"The last military medical team deployed for the pandemic finished its assignment last week at the University of Utah hospital."
28In this sentence, "assignment" refers to a specific place where the task or mission is carried out, like the University of Utah hospital.
29Military units and other employees might have different assignments or jobs in different places.
30This is how we can think of the word "assignment," like a specific job in a specific place.
31To summarize, we use the word "mission" to talk about the overall goal or purpose for an organization or an individual.
32We use the word assignment when talking about individual jobs in a specific place.
33The two words can overlap when a person's assignment (individual job) is helping carry out the mission or larger, overall goal.
34Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Aiping!
35What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
36And that's Ask a teacher.
37I'm Faith Pirlo.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Aiping about the difference between mission and assignment in one of our stories. 2Question: 3Dear teacher, 4I read an article by VOA Learning English titled "After Helping Fight COVID-19 US military plans for Next Pandemic." There are two words: "mission "and "assignment." Can you tell me the difference between these two words? 5Thanks! 6Aiping 7Answer: 8Dear Aiping, 9Thank you for your question! Let us look at these two words within the story. We will start with the word "mission" and then move onto "assignment." 10Mission: 11Firstly, we have the word "mission." Let us look at how the word "mission" is used in the story: 12"The United States military deployed about 24,000 troops to help state and local governments across the country fight COVID-19. That mission has ended, at least for now." 13"And, officials are seeking to learn from the experiences of service members who took part in the COVID-19 mission." 14"(The patient) is going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission." 15The word mission in these three sentences from the story refer to the US military's deployment of troops to help local governments fight COVID-19. In this way, we can think of "mission" as an important operation, effort, or task. 16The US military defines "mission" as "a task together with a purpose." This may be an overall mission or larger goal, like to defend the United States, or it might be a specific task, like helping local governments to fight COVID-19. 17So we can think of "mission" as a larger goal or objective. Many organizations and even individual people use the word "mission." 18For example, 19The charity's mission is to provide shelter and food to young people without homes. 20My mission for the summer is to take an hour-long walk every day. 21Assignment: 22Next, we have the word "assignment." Let us look at how we use it in the story: 23"The last military medical team deployed for the pandemic finished its assignment last week at the University of Utah hospital." 24In this sentence, "assignment" refers to a specific place where the task or mission is carried out, like the University of Utah hospital. 25Military units and other employees might have different assignments or jobs in different places. This is how we can think of the word "assignment," like a specific job in a specific place. 26To summarize, we use the word "mission" to talk about the overall goal or purpose for an organization or an individual. We use the word assignment when talking about individual jobs in a specific place. 27The two words can overlap when a person's assignment (individual job) is helping carry out the mission or larger, overall goal. 28Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Aiping! 29What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 30And that's Ask a teacher. 31I'm Faith Pirlo. 32Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 33Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. 34________________________________________________________________ 35Words in This Story 36mission - n. an operation or effort of great value 37charity - n. an official organization that gives money, food or other assistance to people in need