Historic and Historical
2023-10-14
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1Hello! Our question for today on Ask a Teacher comes from a reader in China.
2Dear VOA team,
3I happened to find a question that I'm confused about.
4When I was surfing the web, I found "historic" and "historical" are both adjectives.
5Are there any differences between them? Can you explain how to use them? Thanks.
6Best regards,
7Albert, China
8Dear Albert,
9This is an interesting question.
10The differences between these two words have grown over the years not based on their grammatical form, but on how people have used them.
11So, let's start by taking a look at what the Merriam-Webster online dictionary says about the ways people use the words.
12The word "historic" is used for important and famous events in history.
13Here are two examples of that use.
14The weather reporter warned of a big storm coming that will be of historic proportions.
15Will you come to Washington, D.C. and be part of this historic event?
16In these two examples, we see "historic" used for a storm and for a gathering.
17The word "historic" might also appear when people talk about sports.
18You can also see the word used to describe places.
19In the United States, we have an organization that has information on important places, for example, the home of a former president.
20Here is a statement using that phrase, "historic places."
21That home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
22And many local organizations fix up old buildings that are part of their town's history. This process is called "historic preservation."
23In this neighborhood, homeowners care a lot about historic preservation.
24Moving on to the word "historical," we find it used to describe history, as in "the historical record."
25It appears more often than the word "historic" and also appears with words like perspective, literature, and analysis. Here are some examples.
26Historical evidence suggests wolves are both man's best friend and his worst enemy.
27Isabel Allende wrote many works of historical fiction.
28To sum up, if the thing itself is important or famous, you would probably use "historic" with it.
29If the thing you are talking about relates to history, something real in the past, use the word "historical."
30I hope this clarifies the use of these two words for you, Albert.
31And that's Ask a Teacher for this week.
32Do you have a question for the teacher? Write to us at learningenglish@voanews.com.
33I'm Jill Robbins.
1Hello! Our question for today on Ask a Teacher comes from a reader in China. 2Question: 3Dear VOA team, 4I happened to find a question that I'm confused about. When I was surfing the web, I found "historic" and "historical" are both adjectives. Are there any differences between them? Can you explain how to use them? Thanks. 5Best regards, 6Albert, China 7Dear Albert, 8This is an interesting question. The differences between these two words have grown over the years not based on their grammatical form, but on how people have used them. So, let's start by taking a look at what the Merriam-Webster online dictionary says about the ways people use the words. 9Historic 10The word "historic" is used for important and famous events in history. Here are two examples of that use. 11The weather reporter warned of a big storm coming that will be of historic proportions. 12Will you come to Washington, D.C. and be part of this historic event? 13In these two examples, we see "historic" used for a storm and for a gathering. The word "historic" might also appear when people talk about sports. 14You can also see the word used to describe places. In the United States, we have an organization that has information on important places, for example, the home of a former president. Here is a statement using that phrase, "historic places." 15That home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 16And many local organizations fix up old buildings that are part of their town's history. This process is called "historic preservation." 17In this neighborhood, homeowners care a lot about historic preservation. 18Historical 19Moving on to the word "historical," we find it used to describe history, as in "the historical record." It appears more often than the word "historic" and also appears with words like perspective, literature, and analysis. Here are some examples. 20Historical evidence suggests wolves are both man's best friend and his worst enemy. 21Isabel Allende wrote many works of historical fiction. 22To sum up, if the thing itself is important or famous, you would probably use "historic" with it. If the thing you are talking about relates to history, something real in the past, use the word "historical." 23I hope this clarifies the use of these two words for you, Albert. And that's Ask a Teacher for this week. Do you have a question for the teacher? Write to us at learningenglish@voanews.com. 24I'm Jill Robbins. 25Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. 26______________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28surf -v. to look through information in search of something interesting or useful 29proportion - n. the relationship between the qualities of at least two things, for example, in size 30perspective - n. a way of thinking about something, especially one that is influenced by your beliefs or experiences 31analysis - n. the process of considering something carefully or using statistical methods in order to understand it or explain it 32What is your question for the teacher? Write to us in the Comments Section.