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ESL forum >
Ask for help > DOUBT: NICE AND GOOD
DOUBT: NICE AND GOOD
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urpillay
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DOUBT: NICE AND GOOD
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Dear colleages:
I have a doubt about two adjectives: good and nice. When do we use each one? I know how to use it, but how can it be explained to students in an easy way?
Thanks a lot for your help! |
28 Jan 2009
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dennismychina
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How about � It was nice that the good horse, lightning, won the race.
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28 Jan 2009
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dennismychina
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A nice car and a good car. The nice car is luxurious, nice looking ect. and the good car, although could also be luxurious and nice looking, is essentially well made..
I Googled your question � didn�t come up with much except���
There�s a difference between being nice and being good. Being nice is doing things in order to get people to like you. Being good is about doing what�s right for others and this is what love is about.
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28 Jan 2009
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tlbojko
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I would say, unless your students are advanced, the difference is probably too small for them to worry about. Many times, people use these words interchangeably. If you do want to make this point however, I have heard it explained using "internal" and "external."
Good - This adjective is "internal" because it describes the state of something. The painting IS good because it is the state of the painting - not a person�s subjective opinion. Ashley is good because she IS generally a positive person.
Nice - This is "external" because it describes something much less fixed or more opinion-based. Ashley is being nice TODAY (but usually she may not be so good).
Using a Spanish verb example, good is to ser what nice is to estar. |
28 Jan 2009
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Logos
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I think tlbojoko (what a strange name!!) explanation is just about right. I would also add that in teaching students about speaking and writing I encourage them not to overuse the word �nice�.
Whilst it is indeed a �nice� word with a good meaning, it really does not sound so complementary. There are much stronger adjectives such as beautiful, radiant, delicious, gorgeous, unbelieveable and many many more that are much more descriptive.
Good is not so ill used, though once again, there are numerous adjectives that can be used to replace it, that are far more descriptive.
Just an opinion. |
28 Jan 2009
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Nebal
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Hello urpillay,
What a great question!!! I always wonder about the difference but never asked before!!!
As children we were taught that being nice is a good thing. But you can be nice and do nothing good.
What about Nice and Kind??????????
Which one is an instinct
Some say that Nice is passive, but Kindness never is.
What do u think???????????
Nebal
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28 Jan 2009
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urpillay
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Thanks a lot for all your answers!!! You are always so quick and helpful! Tlbojko my student is not advaced, she is just 10 years old and she had that doubt because she had the two words with the same meaning in Spanish and she got confused. I explained her some basic differences like "Nice" is the same that "Kind" and it is also used the first time you meet someone "Nice to meet you". And good is for "good behaviour" or "nice looking". It is quite complicated because there are many contexts in which you can use them and in some of them you can use both! |
28 Jan 2009
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