What is the difference between situation and circumstance and case ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

I always stuck in using "In this situation/ circumstance/ case"
Examples will be a huge help, thanks :)

Answers

hebrewlearner

27 January

Featured answer

English (US)

They all pretty much mean the same thing, although "case" is very uncommon, and is much more formal.
Sometimes, the words can be used interchangeably; sometimes they cannot. It depends on the context.

Here are some example sentences.

"We're in a rough situation."
(You would NOT say, "we're in a rough case," or "we're in a rough circumstance." "The circumstances are rough" is correct.)

Other correct sentences using

Circumstance/s

Ryan explained the circumstances to Ashley.
The circumstances have changed.
I can't imagine a circumstance in which I would do that.

Situation

The situation could get quite dangerous.
It is interesting to compare their situation and ours.

And I've only ever heard detectives say "case".😅

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hebrewlearner

27 January

English (US)

They all pretty much mean the same thing, although "case" is very uncommon, and is much more formal.
Sometimes, the words can be used interchangeably; sometimes they cannot. It depends on the context.

Here are some example sentences.

"We're in a rough situation."
(You would NOT say, "we're in a rough case," or "we're in a rough circumstance." "The circumstances are rough" is correct.)

Other correct sentences using

Circumstance/s

Ryan explained the circumstances to Ashley.
The circumstances have changed.
I can't imagine a circumstance in which I would do that.

Situation

The situation could get quite dangerous.
It is interesting to compare their situation and ours.

And I've only ever heard detectives say "case".😅

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Tobeornottobe_

28 January

Simplified Chinese (China)

@hebrewlearner Thank you so much!! So you mean I can use both in this circumstance or in this situation(both in a good or a bad situation/circumstance?)

I get so caught up in this question is because I used “in this case” to describe a topic during the English test, and the examiner looked me in a very odd way (I guess I probably said something wrong , just wanna make sure of it😅)

See a translation