encircle, give out and end

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Have a nice weekend.

Jiang

Originally Posted by albertino

Ah, what about "end and finish"?
Jiang, there is a subtle difference in them.
I think you can better grasp with thier difference if they are translated into Chinese. So, here we go.
End=完結、結束, you can say a situation, process, or activity(a state) ends.
The meeting ends/finishes at 10 p.m.
World War II ended in 1945.

Finish=除了完結、完成外、finish還有"喝完、飲完"(an action)的意思(但"end"卻沒有)。
So, we can say:
結束;完成
When does he finish his college course?
I haven't finished reading the book yet.

喝完、飲完
The boys finished eating.
They have finished drinking the wine.

Is it clearer, my friend?

(Not a teacher.)

[jiang]

Hi,
I asked the question "The village is surrounded by mountains" two years ago and I thought I understood your explanation then. But I have just noticed there is an example in my dictionary:

The house is encircled by a high fence.
"high fence" is also vertical. According to this
Can I use "encircled" to replace "surrounded"in my original sentence?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
Jiang

Originally Posted by albertino

My two cents:

Encircle and Surround
Encircle: The island was encircled by a dusty road(from all sides, horizontally).
Surround:The field was surrounded by trees.(from all sides, vertically)

give out :to send out light, sound, heat etc
The oil lamp gave out a pleasant yellowish light.
The musical triangle gives out a clear, beautiful note when struck.
The stun gun, when applied to the body, gives out a sharp electric shock.
Substances such as ammonia give out heat when they dissolve.(Quoted from Collins Cobuild)

give off :to send out heat, smells, gas etc as a result of a natural or chemical process
The plant gives off a delicate smell of lemons.
Gas heaters should only be used in well-ventilated rooms as they give off carbon monoxide.

(Above definitions and examples are quoted from Longman Dict. and its Language Activator)

According to the above examples, sometimes they can be interchangeable, but sometimes they cannot. In our daily usage, we mostly use "give off" for gas, steam while "give out" for light and sound.
(Not a teacher.)