[General] convince/ persuade

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Knowing that convince = assure, confirm, persuade, reassure, satisfy, away, win over, I was confused by the rendering in my native language of both sentences below. Would you tell me the difference between the interpretations of the words in bold?

A stubborn person may be convinced of the necessity of doing something, but nothing may be able to persuade him to do it.

We were persuading him to give up that dangerous plan, but failed to convince him.

To convince a person means to satisfy his understanding as to the truth of something by proof, evidence or arguments.

To persuade a person is to influence him in some way, either by argument, proof or otherwise.

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V

 

[Richard1]

Hi,

I'm not sure I can add much to your summing up with your last two comments which seem to say it all.

Rgds

 

[vil]

To convince a person is to prove the truth to him. To persuade a person is more than that. This paradox was the cause to inquire about the eventual difference between mentioned above in my original post both “synonyms”.


I have to use one and the same interpretation for designation of two obvious different notions.That passes my limited mental capacities.


V.

 

[TheParser]

Dear teachers,

Knowing that convince = assure, confirm, persuade, reassure, satisfy, away, win over, I was confused by the rendering in my native language of both sentences below. Would you tell me the difference between the interpretations of the words in bold?

A stubborn person may be convinced of the necessity of doing something, but nothing may be able to persuade him to do it.

We were persuading him to give up that dangerous plan, but failed to convince him.

To convince a person means to satisfy his understanding as to the truth of something by proof, evidence or arguments.

To persuade a person is to influence him in some way, either by argument, proof or otherwise.

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

V

***** NOT A TEACHER *****



Vil,


My books are very clear:

You persuade someone to do something.

You convince someone of a truth.

ONLY my example: The cops (police officers) persuaded the

bad man to put down his gun by convincing him that the court

would go easier on him if he surrendered peacefully.

BUT my books are also very clear:

Many (most?) native speakers here in the States ignore this

"rule." One book has an example in which even The New York

Times ignored it!!!!!

Nevertheless, I hope that you will join with me and a few others

who are trying our best to uphold the standards of our magnificent

language.


***** NOT A TEACHER *****

 

[milan2003_07]

So you mean that "to convince" just means "to provide some evidence, which makes a person believe that something is true" and "to persuade" means "to influence his mid so that he will change his outlook or attitude to something"? I also think "persuade" often describes the process of providing facts in order to assure a person that something is the case, whereas "convince" is used to say that you've already succeeded in your goal and the person who didn't want to accept something has given up.

 

[vil]

Hi TheParser and milan2003_07,

Thank you for your kindness.

Persuade implies not only convincing, but also influencing a person to act, to do something on the basis of his conviction.
Persuade may refer to the process itself of arguing with a person whereas convince is never used in this sense, but implies rather the final result of argument.

V.

 

[milan2003_07]

Persuade implies not only convincing, but also influencing a person to act, to do something on the basis of his conviction.
Persuade may refer to the process itself of arguing with a person whereas convince is never used in this sense, but implies rather the final result of argument.

I totally agree with you here. As far as I know, "convince" isn't normally used to describe a process of giving good reasons that will make someone believe in something.