to distinguish vs to recognize

Both 'to distinguish' and 'to recognize' are correct phrases, but they are used in different contexts. 'To distinguish' is used when you need to identify differences between things or people, while 'to recognize' is used when you need to identify or remember something or someone you have seen before.

Last updated: March 26, 2024 • 809 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"to distinguish"

Use 'to distinguish' when you want to identify differences between things or people. It implies the ability to perceive or recognize dissimilarities.

Examples:

It's important to distinguish between right and wrong.
Can you distinguish the different types of birds in the forest?
She could easily distinguish his voice from the others in the room.

Show examples from the web [+]

The spirit of the Charter is to distinguish small businesses from SMEs in general.
Trying to distinguish their product, make it a stronger trip.
The identity bracelets aren't just there to distinguish residents from clients.
It is still too early to distinguish the cyclical dimension from the structural one in this recovery.
Information is a term used since the earliest times of radio to distinguish signals from noise.
Through this missing ring, you have linked yourself with a schizophrenic, a man who's unable to distinguish fantasy from reality.
He's come up with the other two stages purely to distinguish his work from ours.
I doubted you, doubted your ability to distinguish fantasy from reality.
No suitable discriminatory tests are available to distinguish pigs vaccinated from pigs naturally infected with classical swine fever virus.
Complex computation is then needed to distinguish moving objects, like planes, from the stationary background.
The EC description needs to be added here and throughout the text to distinguish this status from the national one.
End - users must be able to distinguish newly developed products from older products already in the high labelling classes.
Nothing to distinguish him Or his location.
Nothing to distinguish him Or his location.
Yes, but I am hoping to distinguish the ending.
Waiting for the truly great magicians to distinguish themselves from the mediocre ones.
It's the only way to distinguish it.
It's the only way to distinguish it.
'Sometimes it's hard to distinguish 'between ends and beginnings.
It is important to distinguish guarantees of origin clearly from exchangeable certificates.

Alternatives:

to differentiate
to discern
to tell apart
to separate
to identify

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"to recognize "

Use 'to recognize' when you want to identify or remember something or someone you have seen before. It implies familiarity or awareness of something previously encountered.

Examples:

I couldn't recognize her with the new hairstyle.
He recognized the song from his childhood.
She recognized the actor from the movie.

Show examples from the web [+]

Johnson refused to recognize the law.
I refused to recognize what was clear to all of us.
EV's are trained to recognize the symptoms of euphoria.
I'm starting to recognize your looks.
I know enough to recognize someone who's underwater...
You know, bees are genetically designed to recognize royalty.
He'd be able to recognize his voice.
I'm starting to recognize your looks.
A complete inability to recognize or sing a tune and no pitch.
He began to recognize models in various catalogs.
For far too long, I failed to recognize my own hypocrisy.
We NDF refuse to recognize this illegitimate government.
I was trained to recognize a global hot spot.
You need to recognize when a conversation is over.
But also to recognize that everybody is fallible.
Narrator: A vaccine trains the body in advance how to recognize and neutralize a specific invader.
A vaccine trains the body in advance how to recognize and neutralize a specific invader.
I will teach you to recognize the artistry in paintings.
- Recalibrated to recognize blue energy's spectral signature.
Sellers and buyers are anonymous and very hard to recognize.

Alternatives:

to identify
to remember
to recall
to acknowledge
to be familiar with

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to distinguish vs to recognize

"to distinguish"

"to recognize "

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