italki - Light vs bright - for native speakers of English I want to check my understanding of “bright” and “l

Mikkel

Light vs bright - for native speakers of English I want to check my understanding of “bright” and “light”. I’m unsure if they are more or less synonyms when talking about whether it’s light or dark outside. Is there a difference in meaning between these two sentences?: “Let’s go for a walk while it’s still light” and “Let’s go for a walk while it’s still bright” The way I understand it, using “bright” would mean that it’s not only not dark, but the light has a rather high intensity. I don’t know if a native speaker might actually say “Let’s go for a walk while it’s still bright”, but if they did, to me it might for instance mean that they expected the weather to change from sunny to cloudy. Am I correct in my understanding? Thanks for your help!

Jun 18, 2017 10:55 AM

Answers · 14

There is a difference in meaning, yes. Let's go for a walk while it's still light = let's go for a walk while there is still daylight. You would say it if you wanted to go out during the evening before the sun sets. I don't agree with the previous answer. I could definitely imagine myself saying 'let's go for a walk while it's still light (out), and indeed, I am certain I have said something along those lines before. 'Let's go outside while it's still bright' would mean 'let's go out while the sun is shining' or 'while the weather is nice.'

June 18, 2017

I am actually of the opposite opinion to one of the posters above. I would always say "let's take a walk while it is light". That means the sun has not gone down and it is not too dark to walk. I would use bright to refer to intensity. The sun is really bright today, so I will need my sunglasses..

June 18, 2017

'Light' is mainly used as a noun or as an adjective in terms of describing a 'lighter shade of color' 'bright' is used as an adjective. That's the biggest difference that immediately comes to mind. You could correctly say, 'that is a bright light in the room' So in your examples, here in the US, you'd hear 'Let's go for a walk while it's still light'. Or 'lets go for a walk while it's still bright outside'

June 18, 2017

The only thing that I would like to add to what Paul has said is that I would normally say "Let's go for a walk while it's still bright and sunny".

June 18, 2017

Is there a difference in meaning between these two sentences?: “Let’s go for a walk while it’s still light” and “Let’s go for a walk while it’s still bright” "Let's go for a walk while it's still bright' would mean 'let's go for a walk before the sun goes down and it's not too dark'. I have never heard someone say "Let's go for a walk while it's still light". I am from Ireland though so I'm not sure if people from Canada and the United States might say that. But in Ireland and the United Kingdom we would only say "let's go for a walk while it's still bright".

June 18, 2017

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