Education System or Educational System? A few word choices…
This week we will look at four confusingly similar words, and see some subtle differences. At the end of the article there are some example sentences to test yourself.
1. Complicated or Complex?
The main difference between these two words is that complicated suggests that something is difficult, but complex suggests that something has many details. Very often, however, something with a lot of detail will also be difficult! Heart surgery, for example, is most certainly both complicated and complex!
Another way to think about it is that generally, a person finds something complicated (it is subjective), whereas something is naturally complex (it is objective).
Martin soon realised that not having a car made his life much more complicated.
The fabric of the universe is too complex for our minds to understand.
2. Programme or Program?
This is much less ambiguous!
In U.S. English only program is used. In British English programme is used in all contexts except for when related to computers (a computer program).
3. Education System or Educational System
A friend asked me recently why we say education system instead of educational system. A fantastic question, as, generally, an adjective should go before system to describe what type of system it is. For example, a culinary system is a system related to food, or cooking.
The answer is that sometimes it is possible to put two nouns back-to-back in a way that they compliment each other. A fruit salad is a salad of fruits. Coconut milk is milk from a coconut. In this way, an education system is a system of education. As educational is a perfectly good adjective to describe what kind of system you are talking about, these words are generally interchangeable, but education system is much more common.
4. Flammable or Inflammable?
This is an important one! Flammable and Inflammable are complete synonyms! Everything that is flammable or inflammable can catch fire easily!
For many people, inflammable looks like it should mean not flammable. This dangerous misconception is due to the root word, inflame, which means to catch fire.
The antonym of flammable / inflammable is non-flammable.
Test Yourself
1. The computer __________ is available online. (programme / program)
2. Finland is known for having a fantastic ____________ system (education / educational)
3. “How are things with your girlfriend?” asked Maria.
“It’s ______________ ” said Tom (complicated / complex)
4. “Be careful with that fabric by the fire” warned Thomas.
“Don’t worry – it’s _______________ ” replied Sarah. (flammable / inflammable / non-flammable)
5. It takes many years to understand just a part of the human nervous system, because it is so _________ .(complicated / complex)
Answers
1. The computer program is available online. (programme / program)
2. Finland is known for having a fantastic education system (education / educational)
3. “How are things with your girlfriend?” asked Maria.
“It’s complicated” said Tom (complicated / complex)
4. “Be careful with that fabric by the fire” warned Thomas.
“Don’t worry – it’s non-flammable” replied Sarah. (flammable / inflammable / non-flammable).
5. It takes many years to understand just a part of the human nervous system, because it is so complex. (complicated / complex).
How many did you get right? Do you have a question about any other similar words? Let us know in the comments section below.
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