Derek Bristow
Differences between Synonyms, please explain in details! 【72】 Hi, all. I have some questions about the differences between the following words, if you could explain them and preferably give me examples, demonstrating the differences, that would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. 1. cansado, agotado, exhausto; 2. predecir, adivinar; (they could both mean "to foresee") 3. tratar de, intentar; (they could both mean "to try") 4. candidato, aspirante. Thanks in advance, and looking forward to hearing from you all soon.
Oct 23, 2016 10:48 AM
Answers · 10
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1. cansado, agotado, exhausto; These are all "tired" to various degrees. I'd say cansado < agotado < exhausto, but agotado and exhausto are almost the same level. "agotado" can also mean "out of stock", like in a shop. 2. predecir, adivinar; (they could both mean "to foresee") Predecir is foresee: strictly into the future, something that hasn't happened yet. Adivinar can be into the future, but can also be into the past, or riddles (guess what I'm thinking = "adivina lo que estoy pensando"). Predecir can't be used for guessing riddles or past events. 3. tratar de, intentar; (they could both mean "to try") I'd say these are the same. Tratar is a bit more formal. 4. candidato, aspirante. I'd say these are very similar, but commonly used in different contexts. Candidato would be better used for job selection ("los candidatos deben presentar su CV antes del lunes"), whereas Aspirante is more suited to people being considered for prizes, awards ("aspirante al premio", comes from verb "aspirar a"). But there's a very fuzzy line there, and sometimes you hear "candidatos al premio Nobel", so it's not a clear-cut difference.
October 23, 2016
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_I think agotado and exhausto are in a higher level than just cansado or tired. _ I would also say that predecir is to predict something based on some information you have, for example: predecir el comportamiento de la demanda en el próximo año. Whereas adivinar means to guess, so you guess something without having actual arguments to say that, you just do it randomly. _In my opinion, tratar is more informal and intentar is a little bit more formal. I guess that has to do with regional dialects and the dialect of each country. _ For me, aspirante sounds more like someone who aspires to be someone or to be in a certain position in a near future. Whereas candidato sounds like someone who has already applied for a postion. It's used like candidato a un premio o a una posición. Hope I was helpful and hope I didn't add confusion Have a good one!.
October 23, 2016
Hi! I will upload the answers one by one 1. Cansado, agotado, exhausto --I think that cansado is the most common word to say tired (at least in Mexico) but see please the examples: yo no corro porque correr es muy cansado; that means the activity of running produces tiredness. Estoy muy cansado de tanto corer; here the adjective is applied to me. Also with something that bothers you, ¡estoy cansado de tu actitud! Here another synonym in Spanish could be harto. --Let’s see agotado in the same examples: yo no corro porque correr es muy agotador (look at the variation at the end of the word because it describes an effect produced by the action correr) and as a synonym of cansado: estoy agotado de tanto corer. Finally it is not a synonym of harto. As Diego said when there is a product out of stock you say: el product está agotado, and also when the battery of a device has no energy to provide: la batería está agotada. --When you are entirely tired then: estás exhausto, you not only want to rest but you need to.
October 24, 2016
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