immigrate vs emigrate vs migrate

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ostap77

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There would be no difference between the following sentences.

"They immigrated to Canada."

OR

"They emigrated to Canada."

They left their native country and took up residence in Canada.

"They migrated to Canada.''

They went there loking for work and it might temporarily?
 
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Jaskin

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hi
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker,
There would be no difference between the following sentences.

if those would be sentences said about the same person then
"They immigrated to Canada."
That would be a sentence I'd expect to hear in Canada
OR

"They emigrated to Canada."
That would be a sentence I'd expect to hear in a native country of that person
They left their native country and took up residence in Canada.

"They migrated to Canada.'' neutral


They went there loking for wrok and it might temporarily?

Cheers
 

riquecohen

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There would be no difference between the following sentences.

"They immigrated to Canada." Correct.

OR

"They emigrated to Canada." No. You emigrate from a country.

They left their native country and took up residence in Canada. Correct.
As a matter of style, I wouldn´t use emigrate and immigrate in the same sentence. "They left their native country and immigrated to Canada," or "They emigrated from Somalia and took up residence in Canada."
"They migrated to Canada.'' Technically correct, though migrate is generally used in reference to birds and animals.

They went there loking for wrok and it might temporarily?You are referring to migrant workers. Migrant and migratory are adjectives used interchangeably with both people and animals, though migrant is more frequently heard in reference to people, and migratory is used more with animals, e.g., migratory birds.
Henry
 

5jj

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hi
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker,
Then congratulations on your attempt. A couple of small slips in your English, but you have got the sense of the words.

riquecohen, however is wrong when he says:

"They emigrated to Canada." No. You emigrate from a country.

Jaskin is correct:

"They emigrated to Canada."
That would be a sentence I'd expect to hear in [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE]the native country of that person
They left their native country and took up residence in Canada.
 

riquecohen

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riquecohen, however is wrong when he says:

"They emigrated to Canada." No. You emigrate from a country.

Jaskin is correct:

"They emigrated to Canada."
That would be a sentence I'd expect to hear in [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE]the native country of that person
They left their native country and took up residence in Canada.
You are correct. I was not thorough in my response, but do you agree that one can also emigrate from a country?
 

ostap77

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You are correct. I was not thorough in my response, but do you agree that one can also emigrate from a country?

So we can't say immigrated from a country? We say emigrate from a country?
 

Raymott

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Any other comments?
Yes, there was thread on this about two weeks ago. If 'migrate' had been put in the Topic line, I could give you a link to it.
 

Raymott

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So we can't say immigrated from a country? We say emigrate from a country?
Yes, Jaskin is right.
It depends on where you are when you say it.
Let's say Anya migrated from Sweden to England.
If you are in England, you can say, "Anya immigrated [to here] from Sweden ".
If you are in Sweden, you can say, "Anya emigrated [from here] to England."

But if you are in France, you don't say, "Anya immigrated from Sweden." nor, "Anya emigrated to Engand." These would imply 'to France' and 'from France' respectively.

In Australia, we have a Department of Immigration, but not a Department of Emigration. This is because far more people are trying to get here than escape! All immigrants here are also emigrants from somewhere else. But since here (Australia) is the focus, they are immigrants.
 

riquecohen

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Yes, Jaskin is right.
It depends on where you are when you say it.
Let's say Anya migrated from Sweden to England.
If you are in England, you can say, "Anya immigrated [to here] from Sweden ".
If you are in Sweden, you can say, "Anya emigrated [from here] to England."

But if you are in France, you don't say, "Anya immigrated from Sweden." nor, "Anya emigrated to Engand." These would imply 'to France' and 'from France' respectively.

In Australia, we have a Department of Immigration, but not a Department of Emigration. This is because far more people are trying to get here than escape! All immigrants here are also emigrants from somewhere else. But since here (Australia) is the focus, they are immigrants.
Can someone take a look at posts 4, 5 and 6? Jaskin is correct and I regret that I hadn´t seen his post before I submitted mine. I also understand fivejedjon´s amendment to my comment on emigration, but cannot see why my response is "wrong." I´m sorry to seem so dense; will someone please tell me if where you say it the only difference between the two responses?
 
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5jj

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Can someone take a look at posts 4, 5 and 6? Jaskin is correct and I regret that I hadn´t seen his post before I submitted mine. I also understand fivejedjon´s amendment to my comment on emigration, but cannot see why my response is "wrong." I´m sorry to seem so dense; will someone please explain ?

You wrote: "They emigrated to Canada." No. You emigrate from a country.

If the people left any country in the world except Canada, and moved to Canada, then the sentence They emigrated to Canada is correct. Therefore your response is wrong because it claims that the correct sentence is incorrect.

Of course, if the sentence were written by a person in Canada, then we would expect immigrated. However, even then, emigrated is possible if the writer is focusing on the country of departure: They had been very happy in Ireland but, when they both lost their jobs and homes, they emigrated to Canada.

You do indeed emigrate from a country, which may or may not be mentioned; at the same time you emigrate to another country, which may or may not be mentioned.
 

riquecohen

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You wrote: "They emigrated to Canada." No. You emigrate from a country.

If the people left any country in the world except Canada, and moved to Canada, then the sentence They emigrated to Canada is correct. Therefore your response is wrong because it claims that the correct sentence is incorrect.

Of course, if the sentence were written by a person in Canada, then we would expect immigrated. However, even then, emigrated is possible if the writer is focusing on the country of departure: They had been very happy in Ireland but, when they both lost their jobs and homes, they emigrated to Canada.

You do indeed emigrate from a country, which may or may not be mentioned; at the same time you emigrate to another country, which may or may not be mentioned.
Thanks for clarifying this for me.
 

Allen165

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NOT A TEACHER.

Maybe this will help you internalize the differences among "emigrate," immigrate," and "migrate."

A emigrated from C.

A immigrated to D.

A migrated from C to D.
 
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