I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. But that was in the past, and since then my English skills have been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to post some simple questions and comments about the English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) on Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may make elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.
Shop vs. Store | English Is Not So Easy 26
These days, I'm mostly learning about the English language and American lifestyle from the YouTuber group called "Kevin's English Room". This channel is about the English language and American culture, but since it's a Japanese channel and mostly uses Japanese, people in the US cultural area probably don't get a chance to watch it. So I would like to share the content of their videos here on Newgrounds, and "report" on what information the Japanese are getting about the English language and American culture.
Recently, they were discussing an interesting topic: "Are the English words we are taught in school have the same meaning?"
Of course, when studying two words with similar meanings, there's bound to be a linguistic difference. However, in this video they focused more on how native speakers differentiate between such words in everyday conversation, which made it very accessible to me. As I mentioned in a previous article, my main interest in studying English is understanding "how a word or phrase affects the native speaker's feelings," so this is exactly the kind of topic I'm most interested in.
This is off topic, but they previously released a video on "Phrases Used Ironically in American Conversation" and I was very interested in the content and wrote a full article introducing it. However, I decided not to post it due to some issues:
- Some of the "phrases not recommended for casual use" they listed weren't even recognized as ironic by native speakers. For example, they mentioned that "very good" shouldn't be used in casual conversation, which is not the view of many native speakers.
- By listing such phrases, I might seem to be declaring, "I consider these phrases to be 'attacks on me,' so don't use them around me!" This is not my intention. Ineed, I have learned such phrases, and I think I will never use them myself, but forcing or suggesting that someone not use them is not my philosophy.
Since the topic of "English similar words" seems just as interesting and much safer, I would like to share their insights here.
The format of the channel is that native English speaker "Kevin", who sits in the middle, is asked questions by "Kake", on the right, who has the typical English skills of a Japanese person, and "Yama", on the left, who can speak a little English from his study abroad experience in France. This article is a transcription and translation of their conversation.
1. Shop / Store
Kevin: Personally, I don’t know the difference.
Kake: For example, you say “Grocery store,” but not “Grocery shop.” There’s “Convenience store” but not “Convenience shop.”
Kevin: That’s true. There’s probably some rule for using them, but I can’t explain it well right now.
Yama: How about “Fruit store” and “Fruit shop?”
Kevin: You can use both.
Kake: Which is more common, “Juice store” or “Juice shop?”
Kevin: I’ve seen both, but “Juice shop” might be a bit more common.
Kake: In Japan, “shop” is often defined as a specialized place for selling and making things, while “store” seems to only sell products.
Kevin: “Grocery stores” only sell ready-made items, so we call them “store,” while bakeries, where things are made on-site, are called “Bakery shop.”
Yama: So would a bakery that just sells items from a large factory be a “Bakery store?”
Kevin: Umm... I think so, but I’ve never seen that. Let me consult some dictionaries.
[Kevin consults dictionaries for a while]
Kevin: In the U.S., “store” is defined as “A building or part of a building that sells things,” while “shop” is “A building or room that sells merchandise.” Hmm, that sounds opposite to the Japanese definitions, considering that “merchandise” sounds closer to completed items.
Yama: Does the size of the building matter? Do we call larger places “stores” and smaller ones “shops?”
Kevin: That makes sense. Shops feel specialized, and stores seem more all-purpose.
Kake: Is a "convenience store" small but broad in its offerings, so it's called a "store"?
Kevin: I think so. But there are probably countless exceptions, and definitions might vary by region or between the U.S. and the U.K. Honestly, I don’t fully get the difference.
Conclusion:
- "Store" is a relatively large building that sells a variety of items.
- "Shop" is a relatively small building that specializes in one item.
2. Meet / See
Kevin: Saying “I’m going to meet him” gives the impression that he and I are meeting for the first time. On the other hand, “I’m going to see him” sounds more like we already know each other and are just going out for lunch or something.
Kake: Do you understand the difference between “Nice to meet you” and “Nice to see you”?
Kevin: “Nice to meet you” does feel slightly more like a first-time encounter. But even with someone you’re meeting for the first time, saying “Nice to see you” doesn’t feel too out of place.
Yama: What’s the difference between “I met him yesterday” and “I saw him yesterday”?
Kevin: "I met him yesterday" gives the impression that I interacted with him, but "I saw him yesterday" could mean that I just happened to "look" at him.
Yama: So, the point is whether there was an interaction?
Kevin: I think so.
Kake: In everyday conversation, is one used more often than the other?
Kevin: No, both “meet” and “see” are used often. “Meet” gives more of an impression of a planned appointment to go and meet the person.
Yama: How would you greet someone you happen to run into in town?
Kevin: Since “Nice to meet/see you” are fixed expressions, there isn’t much of a difference in meaning. Either one sounds fine, so you don’t need to worry about it too much.
Conclusion:
- "To meet" refers to the act of using one's own time to meet someone for the first time.
- "To see" refers to the act of meeting an acquaintance for the purpose of hanging out or something similar. It could also mean just "looking" at the person.
3. Till / Until
Kevin: They’re the same. Exactly the same meaning.
Kake: Then why do both words exist?
Kevin: Native speakers being whimsical.
Kake: Are both commonly used in everyday conversation?
Kevin: Yes.
Yama: Their spelling is also similar.
Kevin: Personally, I have this theory that only “until” originally existed, but people got lazy saying it, and over time it turned into “till.”
Kake: Is it a type of abbreviation?
Kevin: It could be.
Kake: Is there a distinction where “until” is used in formal settings and “till” in casual ones?
Kevin: No. Both words are used often in any setting. If anything, “till” is shorter and easier to say, so it’s often used in song lyrics. That’s really the only difference.
Conclusion:
- Both "until" and "till" are used in exactly the same way.
4. Bathroom / Restroom
Kevin: They mean the same thing. In the real estate industry, there might be a clear distinction, but for native speakers using it in daily conversation, it’s exactly the same.
Yama: The origins of the words might be different, though.
Kake: So, they merged as euphemisms for “toilet” from different places. What would you actually call a room just for taking a break?
Kevin: Bedroom.
Kake: “Bed” comes up! LOL. Then, what would you call the room for taking a shower?
Kevin: Shower.
Kake: It’s a mystery.
Yama: In Japanese, too, terms like “Otearai” (hand-washing room) and “Keshoshitsu” (making-up room) mean the same thing. No one thinks of them as rooms specifically for washing hands or doing makeup.
Kake: The same phenomenon happens in English, too.
Conclusion:
- "Bathroom" and "restroom" are both used interchangeably as euphemisms for toilets.
5. Have / Eat
Kevin: It's hard to imagine. Give me the simplest example sentence.
Yama: For example, “Did you have/eat lunch?”
Kevin: “Did you have lunch?” is asking if you completed the “task” of lunch for the day, while “Did you eat lunch?” focuses more on the act of eating itself.
Kake: How about “Did you have/eat a hamburger?”
Kevin: “Did you have a hamburger?” sounds like asking if you tried a hamburger from a famous place, while “Did you eat a hamburger?” gives the impression you’re asking because you smell a hamburger on them. “Have” might refer more to the “experience,” and “eat” to the “biological act” of eating.
Kake: Is there a situation where “have” can’t be used?
Kevin: I can imagine a parent telling a child who refuses to eat broccoli, “Eat your broccoli.” Saying “Have your broccoli” might give the child the idea they only need to pick it up. Or, in a buffet, if a parent sees their child’s plate has few vegetables, they might say, “Get some broccoli, too.”
Kake: Are both commonly used in everyday conversation?
Kevin: Yes, both are used about equally.
Yama: What about “What did you have/eat last night?”
Kevin: For that example, the intent of the question is mostly the same.
Kake: How about “Have you had/eaten Egyptian food before?”
Kevin: Both are used often. With “eat,” the person might be asking because Egyptian food has a distinct smell. With “have,” they might be interested in the restaurant’s interior or atmosphere. But they basically mean the same thing, and there’s little chance of a communication gap.
Conclusion:
- "Have" is a word that focuses on the "experience" of eating and also focuses on various things related to the act of eating, such as the interior design of a restaurant.
- "Eat" is a word that focuses on the "biological act" and focuses only on the act of putting food in the mouth.
6. Nice / Kind
Kevin: “He is nice/kind” means the same thing.
Kake: Doesn’t “nice guy” mean “cool guy”?
Kevin: LOL That’s actually a Japan-specific expression. Americans don’t really use it that way.
Conclusion:
- Both "nice" and "kind" are used in exactly the same way.
7. Home / House
Kevin: These two words are distinctly different. “Home” has a conceptual meaning of “the place I return to,” while “house” just refers to a residence.
Kake: Like the difference between “home town” and “house town.”
Kevin: “House town” gives the impression of a liminal space with just buildings lined up.
Kake: Does “home” need to have “family” there?
Kevin: No. Since “home” has a strong emotional meaning of “the place I return to,” it doesn’t need to have anyone else there.
Conclusion:
- "Home" has the clear nuance of "a place to return to."
- "House" simply refers to a building as a "residence."
8. But / Although / Though / However
Kevin: “But” is a casual term, while the other three words have a more academic feel, like something you’d see in a research paper. Now, the issue is the difference between these three words… First, “although” and “though” might have the same meaning.
Kake: Like the difference between “till” and “until”?
Kevin: Something like that. But neither of them is used very often in general.
Kake: Are they used on news programs?
Kevin: They might be used on news programs. There’s also a grammatical difference. “However” is often used at the beginning of a sentence, whereas “although” and “though” can also be used in the middle of a sentence. I’ve never seen “however” used in the middle of a sentence.
[Precip.24’s note]: Personally, I question his statement here. I learned that “however” can be used in the middle of a sentence, like in “It was, however, not true.”
Kevin: “Although” is generally used to refer to contrasting elements within a single sentence, so opposing ideas A and B are often short and concise. In contrast, “however” is used to add a contrasting paragraph or statement to what was mentioned previously. For example, in a presentation on Apple’s new product, a detailed explanation of the previous model might be given first, and then “however” introduces the new product’s features.
Conclusion:
- "But" is used in colloquial writing, and the other three are used in academic writing.
- "Although" and "Though" are both used in the same way and are used when you want to create a conflict within a sentence.
- "However" does not create conflict. It is used in longer sentences, such as when you want to say the opposite of what the paragraph itself says.
9. Wish / Hope
Kevin: With “I wish I can go to Japan,” it’s clear they can’t actually go to Japan, but they have a long-held admiration for it. In contrast, “I hope I can go to Japan” implies a clearer process toward making it happen; the remaining issues might just be getting a passport or booking a flight.
Kake: So if Japan disappeared from the world, would it be “I wish I can go to Japan”?
Kevin: Yes, exactly. It’s the kind of phrase you’d find in a sci-fi novel.
Yama: In “I hope you will have some great time,” would it feel strange to replace “hope” with “wish”?
Kevin: Very risky. Saying “I wish you had fun” would imply something like, “I could tell you weren’t enjoying the party, but I did my best to make it fun for you.”
Conclusion:
- People who "wish" don't know how to make their dream come true.
- People who "hope" know how to make their dream come true.
10. Say / Tell
Kevin: With “John said to David,” the focus is on the words reaching David’s ears, while “John told David” conveys that John’s true feelings were also communicated.
Kake: So with “John said to David not to make fun of him,” it would mean he just issued a warning, but with “John told David not to make fun of him,” it implies that John also explained what else he found offensive?
Kevin: Yes, that’s basically correct.
Yama: You’d say “Tell me if you need help,” but not “Say to me if you need help,” right?
Kevin: “Say something to me if you need help” sounds a bit less strange, but even so, it’s not commonly used. It gives the impression of focusing on the physical act of producing sound.
Conclusion:
- "Saying" refers to the act of communicating a certain remark to someone by words, and is not interested in whether the other person has understood the meaning. It often refers to the act of saying just that one sentence.
- "Telling" emphasizes whether the teller's ideas and thoughts were conveyed, including the content. Therefore, telling usually does not end with just one sentence, but requires a long explanation of the intention and reason behind the statement.
That’s the end of this article. Thank you very much for reading until the end.
When studying English, questions like these come up all the time. For example, "What's the difference between 'learn' and 'study'?" or "What's the difference between 'study' and 'research'?" "What's the difference between 'post' and 'publish'?" or "'Draw'? You mean 'line drawing'? But all my illustrations are 'painted'!" For some of my questions, there are clearly defined differences that can be explained in words, but for others, even native speakers don't know the answer. This reality is one of the things that makes learning English so challenging. In this video, I was glad to get some useful insights into questions I actually had (or could have had) myself.
Incidentally, Kevin mentioned that using “wish” can sometimes be considered rude, but until recently, I couldn’t differentiate between “hope” and “wish.” I used “wish” in the same way as in “We wish you a Merry Christmas.” If I’ve caused any offense because of that, I sincerely apologize.