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  • Small/short

  • Hi! It's Lisa Scott with losemyaccent.com, where I help you speak English more clearly

  • and be understood more easily. Today I'm answering a question about the difference between SHORT

  • and SMALL. Both adjectives describe the relative size of an object, but we do use them differently.

  • When we talk about something that is small, we are talking about its overall size relative

  • to other similar things. Small is the opposite of LARGE. For example, when you go to a fast

  • food restaurant, you can order a drink that is small, medium, or large. The small drink

  • will be in the smallest cup and will contain the least amount of liquid. If you put a mouse

  • and an elephant side by side, the mouse is small and the elephant is large. However,

  • it is important to note that the size is relative. In other words, something is only small when

  • compared to something else. So, the mouse is small when you compare it to an elephant,

  • but when you compare it to a fly, the mouse is large and the fly is small.

  • When we use the word SHORT, we are still talking about something that is small, but only in

  • terms of length or height. SHORT is the opposite of LONG or TALL. So, we hope to have a short

  • line at the theater, because who wants to wait in a long line, right? When my hair gets

  • too long, I get it cut, and then I have short hair. You might have a short electrical cord

  • that is not long enough to reach across the room to the outlet. Or, people might say that

  • you are a short person if most other people are taller than you. I never considered myself

  • to be short, but now both of my teenaged sons are taller than me, so they tease me about

  • being short.

  • So, SMALL refers to overall size and SHORT refers specifically to length or height. And

  • that's the long and short of it.

  • For more tips on improving your English, get your free guide by visiting my website at

  • losemyaccent.com. See you next time!

Small/short

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