Restrain, Refrain, or Restrict?

2022-11-26

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1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about three verbs, "restrain," "refrain," and "restrict."
    • 2
  • Dear Teacher,
    • 3
  • I am Anora, your loyal reader from China.
    • 4
  • I'm glad to write this email.
    • 5
  • I am confused by the words "restrain," "refrain," and "restrict."
    • 6
  • I sincerely hope to know their differences.
    • 7
  • Looking forward to your wonderful answers.
    • 8
  • Yours, Anora.
    • 9
  • Dear Anora,
    • 10
  • Thanks for writing to us! This is an interesting question.
    • 11
  • These words appear similar, but they are different in their meanings, use, and especially whether they take a direct object or not.
    • 12
  • Let's look at each word and compare!
    • 13
  • Restrain is a verb that takes a direct object.
    • 14
  • In grammar, this means that it is transitive.
    • 15
  • The first meaning is that you limit or prevent a person or even an animal from doing something.
    • 16
  • I must restrain my cat with a leash when going outside.
    • 17
  • Another meaning is that you prevent someone from doing something or deny them freedom by using physical force or official power. For example,
    • 18
  • You should never restrain someone having a seizure by holding them down.
    • 19
  • You can restrain yourself or others from some kind of action through methods of control.
    • 20
  • Like restraining your emotions or limiting yourself in some way.
    • 21
  • I restrained myself from having another piece of pie on Thanksgiving.
    • 22
  • You can also restrain things from getting too large.
    • 23
  • The government raised interest rates in hopes of restraining inflation.
    • 24
  • Refrain is a verb that does not take a direct object; it is intransitive.
    • 25
  • To refrain means that you stop yourself from doing something by choice.
    • 26
  • I'm refraining from buying anything on Black Friday. There are better sales right before the holidays.
    • 27
  • Refrain is also a noun. In music, it means a repeated part of a song, such as a melody or chorus.
    • 28
  • We often remember refrains of songs because they are repeated.
    • 29
  • It can also mean a word, phrase or saying that is repeated such as in a poem or song.
    • 30
  • Lana Del Rey uses the refrain "red dress" in many of her songs.
    • 31
  • Let's move on to "restrict."
    • 32
  • Restrict is a verb that takes a direct object.
    • 33
  • It means to put a limit on something or to reduce or prevent it.
    • 34
  • In the US, the government restricts anyone under 18 years of age from voting in elections.
    • 35
  • If you restrict a person or animal "to" something else, you have limited them to one thing.
    • 36
  • They restrict their dog to a special diet for his health.
    • 37
  • You can restrict something to a particular group or place.
    • 38
  • During the height of the pandemic, many countries restricted entry to hospitals to authorized people or patients.
    • 39
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you!
    • 40
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
    • 41
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
    • 42
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
    • 1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about three verbs, "restrain," "refrain," and "restrict."
    • 2
  • Question
    • 3
  • Dear Teacher,
    • 4
  • I am Anora, your loyal reader from China. I'm glad to write this email. I am confused by the words "restrain," "refrain," and "restrict." I sincerely hope to know their differences. Looking forward to your wonderful answers.
    • 5
  • Yours, Anora.
    • 6
  • Answer
    • 7
  • Dear Anora,
    • 8
  • Thanks for writing to us! This is an interesting question. These words appear similar, but they are different in their meanings, use, and especially whether they take a direct object or not.
    • 9
  • Let's look at each word and compare!
    • 10
  • Restrain
    • 11
  • Restrain is a verb that takes a direct object. In grammar, this means that it is transitive.
    • 12
  • The first meaning is that you limit or prevent a person or even an animal from doing something.
    • 13
  • I must restrain my cat with a leash when going outside.
    • 14
  • Another meaning is that you prevent someone from doing something or deny them freedom by using physical force or official power. For example,
    • 15
  • You should never restrain someone having a seizure by holding them down.
    • 16
  • You can restrain yourself or others from some kind of action through methods of control. Like restraining your emotions or limiting yourself in some way.
    • 17
  • I restrained myself from having another piece of pie on Thanksgiving.
    • 18
  • You can also restrain things from getting too large.
    • 19
  • The government raised interest rates in hopes of restraining inflation.
    • 20
  • Refrain
    • 21
  • Refrain is a verb that does not take a direct object; it is intransitive.
    • 22
  • To refrain means that you stop yourself from doing something by choice.
    • 23
  • I'm refraining from buying anything on Black Friday. There are better sales right before the holidays.
    • 24
  • Refrain is also a noun. In music, it means a repeated part of a song, such as a melody or chorus.
    • 25
  • We often remember refrains of songs because they are repeated.
    • 26
  • It can also mean a word, phrase or saying that is repeated such as in a poem or song.
    • 27
  • Lana Del Rey uses the refrain "red dress" in many of her songs.
    • 28
  • Let's move on to "restrict."
    • 29
  • Restrict
    • 30
  • Restrict is a verb that takes a direct object. It means to put a limit on something or to reduce or prevent it.
    • 31
  • In the US, the government restricts anyone under 18 years of age from voting in elections.
    • 32
  • If you restrict a person or animal "to" something else, you have limited them to one thing.
    • 33
  • They restrict their dog to a special diet for his health.
    • 34
  • You can restrict something to a particular group or place.
    • 35
  • During the height of the pandemic, many countries restricted entry to hospitals to authorized people or patients.
    • 36
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you!
    • 37
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
    • 38
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
    • 39
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
    • 40
  • Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
    • 41
  • ______________________________________________________________
    • 42
  • Words in This Story
    • 43
  • confused - adj. to be uncertain or unable to understand something
    • 44
  • leash - n. a long, thin piece of rope, chain, etc., that is used for holding a dog or other animal
    • 45
  • seizure - n. (medical) a state in which you become unconscious and your body moves in an uncontrolled and violent way
    • 46
  • pie - n. a food consisting of a pastry crust and a filling, as of fruit or meat
    • 47
  • Black Friday - n. the day after Thanksgiving when the start of holiday seasonal shopping begins; many businesses profit during this time and go into "the black"
    • 48
  • phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence
    • 49
  • authorized -adj. officially permitted or allowed to do something
    • 50
  • _____________________________________________________________
    • 51
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    • 52
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