Choosing the Right Word for the Right Occasion

     It has been estimated that the English language has over 600,000 non-technical words. Very often a word in English has a meaning very similar to another word, but only one word is the word you want to use for the idea you want to express. In Chinese, the word 國 can be translated as kingdom, country, nation, or state. When writing in English, how do you know which word to use?

     Choosing the right word for the right occasion is a skill that every writer must develop. In this lesson you will learn to use your dictionary and thesaurus “as a team” to develop that skill.

     If English is not your native language, you may begin with your pocket translator. Let’s say your pocket translator tells you that 國 is translated as country. Is that the word you need to use?
     Maybe it is; maybe it isn’t. Go to your thesaurus.

     Your thesaurus will give you the words kingdom, country, nation, and state as synonyms. It may include a few more. Next you turn to your dictionary and look up the words kingdom, country, nation, and state. A kingdom is a state ruled by a king or queen. A state is a geographical area ruled by a sovereign government. A country is a geographical area that is somehow regarded as “different” from the geographical areas around it. A nation is a cultural or ethnic group that sees itself as culturally or ethnically different from other groups. We usually understand nation as being a country that is culturally or ethnically separate from its neighbors.

     Scotland and Wales are separate countries, but they are part of the same state: the United Kingdom. Since the United Kingdom is ruled by a queen, the UK is also a kingdom. Scotland and England are separate nations—the Gaelic and Anglo-Norman peoples—but they are part of the same state or kingdom: the UK. England and France are different states, countries, and nations; but, since France is not a kingdom, we would not say that England and France are separate kingdoms.

     Here’s one other point regarding these words. We would call a country a kingdom only when drawing attention to the fact that it is ruled by a king or queen. We would call it a state only if we are referring specifically to its government. We would call it a nation only if we are drawing attention to its cultural or ethnic distinctiveness.