Question
11 Mar 2016
- Simplified Chinese (China)
-
English (US)
-
English (UK)
Question about English (US)
What is the difference between ruin and destroy ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between ruin and destroy ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (US)
- English (UK)
They are very similar.
An example of a difference: when talking about a building being exploded, you would say, "the building was destroyed", but not "the building was ruined."
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- English (US)
- English (UK)
To ruin something is to destroy something.
But, something can be in ruins:
"After the earthquake, the house was in ruins"
meaning
"After the earthquake, the house was destroyed"
- English (US)
I agree with ruthampton! Sometimes we say, "The building is in ruins," after it has been destroyed, though. Usually ruin (as a verb) is used to mean something can't be used properly anymore, but still exists, and destroyed means it is gone forever. For example, if I spill juice on my skirt, I might say, "This skirt is ruined!" It is stained, but I could still wear it. But if my skirt caught on fire, I might say, "My skirt is destroyed." Sorry if this explanation is too complicated!
- Turkish
As far as I remember, It can be used as a noun like below.
"I am walking through the ruins of the building which was destroyed by @ruthampton " :)
- Indonesian
- English (US) Near fluent
the difference is ruin is noun and destroy is verb #CMIIW
- English (US)
- English (UK)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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