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Difference between mend and repair
Message de royben7 posté le 30-05-2010 à 13:15:38 (S | E | F)
Hello,
What is the difference of meaning between to mend and to repair ?
During In one exercise, I noticed that the correction of the test didn't use "to repair" but only "to mend". Why?
Thank you for your answers.
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Modifié par lucile83 le 30-05-2010 13:41
Message de royben7 posté le 30-05-2010 à 13:15:38 (S | E | F)
Hello,
What is the difference of meaning between to mend and to repair ?
Thank you for your answers.
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Modifié par lucile83 le 30-05-2010 13:41
Réponse: Difference between mend and repair de notrepere, postée le 30-05-2010 à 17:36:44 (S | E)
Hello! They can mean the same thing but it really depends on the context. "Mend" is used more in the UK and is often used in place of the word "repair" or "fix" in the U.S.
UK: This stereo player needs mending.
US. This stereo player needs repairing/fixing.
So I will leave the usage of "mend" to the GBE experts.
However, "to mend" if often used in idiomatic expressions that refer to people and their issues:
I was sick but now I'm on the mend.
Their hearts need mending. (They were in love but their hearts were broken)
This relationship needs mending. (They don't speak to each other anymore)
You need to mend your ways. (Improve your behaviour
behavior )"Repair" is usually only used to refer to objects and not people.
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Modifié par notrepere le 30-05-2010 17:37
Réponse: Difference between mend and repair de royben7, postée le 30-05-2010 à 18:25:23 (S | E)
Thank you "notrepere" for the answer. As usual, it's just a difference between the UK and the American.
Bye
Réponse: Difference between mend and repair de gerondif, postée le 30-05-2010 à 18:29:30 (S | E)
Hello,
as notrepère suggested, repair is more common, fix more colloquial, mend older and more classical, it probably comes from some old latin root, as in "faire amende honorable", "amender un texte".
Réponse: Difference between mend and repair de notrepere, postée le 30-05-2010 à 19:15:53 (S | E)
It looks like it's from Old French: amender
Word Origin & History
mend
c.1200, "to free from sin or fault, improve morally," from an aphetic form of O.Fr. amender (see amend). Meaning "to fix something torn or broken" is from
mid-14c.; that of "to regain health" is from c.1500. Related: Mended; mending.
Lien Internet
Réponse: Difference between mend and repair de jonquille, postée le 31-05-2010 à 03:07:48 (S | E)
Hello!
As notrepere said so correctly:
UK: This stereo player needs mending.
US: This stereo player needs repairing/fixing.
However, we will still hear the word "mend" used by us "old folks" when it comes to fixing clothing...(at least in New England, we do!)
jonquille
Réponse: Difference between mend and repair de frankstern, postée le 31-05-2010 à 05:20:37 (S | E)
I also think "mend" ia a kind of old fashion word. Probably it is still used in UK but not in USA. Of course "repair" is used for objects, for instance you can say: "I will repair my car this week". I'm not completely sure but it seems "mend" can be used for relationships, probably someone can clarify this use.
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