مستر رمضان عيسى
13-11-2008, 08:09 PM
how can you explain the difference between historic and historical.
This is an important question. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage explains it this way:
"Historic is more self-consciously associated with the making of history, so that a historic event is one which people feel is particularly significant in the life and culture of the nation. Historical is more neutral, acknowledging that something belongs to the past, or to the study of the past, or else that it really happened and is not fictitious."
Let’s look at some examples.
A historical book is a book about history, but a historic book is one that is particularly significant in the culture, perhaps because it was the first of its kind — the first novel, the first book printed rather than copied by hand, the first book to deal with a certain subject, etc.
A historical building is simply an old building. A historic building is considered important because a memorable event happened in or near it — an assassination, the signing of a treaty, the founding of an important organization, etc.
A historical person is one who really existed in the past. Legends are usually fantastic imaginary stories that grow around a historical figure. That is, the person really existed, even though the deeds and events of the legend are imaginary or exaggerated.
We hope that answers your question. Perhaps our readers can give more examples in the Comments.
This is an important question. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage explains it this way:
"Historic is more self-consciously associated with the making of history, so that a historic event is one which people feel is particularly significant in the life and culture of the nation. Historical is more neutral, acknowledging that something belongs to the past, or to the study of the past, or else that it really happened and is not fictitious."
Let’s look at some examples.
A historical book is a book about history, but a historic book is one that is particularly significant in the culture, perhaps because it was the first of its kind — the first novel, the first book printed rather than copied by hand, the first book to deal with a certain subject, etc.
A historical building is simply an old building. A historic building is considered important because a memorable event happened in or near it — an assassination, the signing of a treaty, the founding of an important organization, etc.
A historical person is one who really existed in the past. Legends are usually fantastic imaginary stories that grow around a historical figure. That is, the person really existed, even though the deeds and events of the legend are imaginary or exaggerated.
We hope that answers your question. Perhaps our readers can give more examples in the Comments.