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Forum -> Working Women -> Teachers' Room
Attn grammar teachers; time sensitive question



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amother


 

Post Mon, Jun 09 2014, 1:53 pm
why is it better to use the word excellent in a sentence (the authors new book has excellent reviews) rather than great?

I need to use a few synonyms for great and say why its better to use that, so I answered a bunch that great is a very generic term, and the synonym shows more than just great. I cant answer the same thing for everything
any ideas? tia
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 09 2014, 2:13 pm
excellent is a higher speech level.
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ElTam




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 09 2014, 2:20 pm
1. Different words have different shades of meaning. Using those words helps you be more precise in the message you craft.
2. Repetition of the same word is boring for the reader.
3. Not all words are appropriate for the tone of the message, either because of the time, the place, the sender, or the receiver. You might say you found a great new shop to a friend, but you wouldn't use great on someone's performance evaluation at work.
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amother


 

Post Mon, Jun 09 2014, 2:29 pm
op here
thanks a lot!
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Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 09 2014, 2:54 pm
Something is excellent because it excels. A verb. It's done well. A time limit is present. It's done well now.

Great means physically large. An adjective. No time limit. It's general. It's large at all times.

Great also implies worth. An abstract adjective. Also no time limit. A quality of the thing that is permanent.

The Great Bear constellation is the bigger bear. There is also a Little Bear constellation. There it is just size.

Alfred the Great was the most effective of the English kings. I don't know if he was tall, but he was their best leader. He had worth.

An excellent meal is made excellently, meaning with much culinary skill.

This is definitely all mere hairsplitting, but you asked for a minute perspective.

Have a great day.

You wouldn't say have an excellent day. That would be odd or adolescent-sounding.

A great adventure might have a different tone from an excellent adventure.

Look deep into the linguistic history and root of the word; you will find what it really means or can mean.

There are thesaurus websites, I think. Google around.
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