[Vocabulary] suitable/appropriate

[milan2003_07]

Hello everyone,

What's the difference between "suitable" and "appropriate"? Could you give any examples when one word can't be replaced with then other because this will lead to the change in meaning.

Thanks

 

[milan2003_07]

Some examples:

1) I consider his decison to go to Europe by plane more appropriate/suitable because travelling by car is really tiresome and requires us to pay a lot for fuel

2) The most suitable/appropriate thing to do if you've failed your exam is to revise everything and take another attempt

More examples and comments are welcome

 

[Richard1]

Hi,

To be honest there's not a great deal of difference and in most cases they are interchangeable. If forced to come up with a distinction maybe the following:

'Suitable' implies a strictly utilitarian value judgment whilst appropriate carries a subjective element.

e.g. That steel rod is suitable for banging in that nail but it's not really appropriate because......

HTH

 

[milan2003_07]

Thanks. So "suitable" is more about what most people's logic says we should do in some situation while "appropriate" has to do with a particular situation. For example hammer is suitable for banging in nails, but it's not alsways appropriate because sometimes we can use an easier tool to so that when the nail is small or if you need to do it quickly.