"leave" and "quit"

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether there is any scarcely perceptible difference of the meaning of the synonyms “leave” and “quit”?

• He has just left.
• Without a word he left her.
• He kissed his mother and left the room.
• She left the room but only for a few moments.
• He left the ship and gazed after it regretfully.
• He repeated his apologies and quitted the room.
• I grew afraid and turned to quit the room.
• He quitted the laboratory with a sign of relief.

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[konungursvia]

ESL texts frequently make up rather odd sentences to teach with; also, mediocre authors tend to over-use their thesaurus to sound interesting.

Having said that, the usual usage is this: "to leave" (Anglo-Saxon) is a plain, material departure, without connotations of separation from a social situation or group. "To quit" (French) usually implies a departure from a club, organisation, institution, on a more conceptual, long-term basis.

Not all of the examples cited are natural to me.

[sarat_106]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether there is any scarcely perceptible difference of the meaning of the synonyms “leave” and “quit”?

• He has just left.(Going away from the place may be temporay)
• Without a word he left her. (Going away from her is permanent)
• He kissed his mother and left the room.(May come back again to see his mother, so the departure is temporary.)
• She left the room but only for a few moments. (Will come back after some time.
• He left the ship and gazed after it regretfully. (Going away from the ship is perment.)
• He repeated his apologies and quitted the room.(Left permanetly)
• I grew afraid and turned to quit the room.(Thought of leaving the room to get rid of fear)
• He quitted the laboratory with a sign of relief. (Left for good)

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

Skp