What is the difference between convince and persuade ?

Question

anonimous · Answer

The verbs ‘convince’ and ‘persuade’ are very similar in meaning, but there is a difference in how we use them.

After ‘persuade’ we use the structure
to + infinitive:

    I persuaded them to stay for another drink.
    He persuaded her not to take the job.

After ‘convince’ we cannot use a verb infinitive. We say ‘convince someone that‘:

    She convinced the police that she was telling the truth.
    He convinced her that it was the right thing to do.

Both of the above sentence would also be correct without ‘that':
She convinced the police she was telling the truth.
He convinced her it was the right thing to do.

anonimous · Answer

Yes, Sparkly. Remember to make convince -> convinced for past tense. The sentence don't make sense otherwise.

sparklyglitz · Answer

@anonimous Don't most people say "I convince her to stay" or "I convince him to take the job"?

shantithewriter · Answer

Okay, so the first person was somewhat wrong. Persuade and convince do both basically mean the same thing. 

You can absolutely use a structure like 
"I convinced [someone] that [piece of information]"
Examples: 
She convinced the police that she was telling the truth.
He convinced her that it was the right thing to do.

In those sentences you could not substitute persuade. You don't persuade [someone] that [something]. It sounds awkward and doesn't really make sense.

It's also totally okay to use convince with 'to.'
I convinced [people] to [action].
Examples:
I convinced them to stay for another drink.
He convinced her to not take the job.

In these sentences, you CAN substitute persuade. It's totally grammatically okay to say:
I persuaded them to stay for another drink.
He persuaded her to not take the job.

However, I feel that persuade has a bit more of an academic or professional connotation. When you're persuading, you're probably coming up with good arguments ahead of time and presenting them. 

Examples: 
I'm trying to persuade the principal to let the seniors go to Disneyland for Grad Night.
We persuaded the city not to build a supermarket on the historic site.
My boss persuaded the other company to sign the contract.

Convincing is more likely to be something you do more casually in the moment, with perhaps a little less thought.

Examples:
Help me convince Charlie to see the movie with us.
I convinced my mom to let me stay out until midnight.
I have to convince her to try spicy food.
He convinced her that pop music is pretty stupid.

To me, that's the very slight difference in meaning. But in any of the last two sets of example sentences, if you used the other word it would still be grammatically correct. In summary, the only thing you CAN'T do is "persuade [someone] that...."

Hope this clarifies a bit.

What is the difference between convince and persuade ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

@anonimous Don't most people say "I convince her to stay" or "I convince him to take the job"?

Yes, Sparkly. Remember to make convince -> convinced for past tense. The sentence don't make sense otherwise.