Illustrate the differences between synonyms by analyzing the following groups of synonyms. （a） understand and comprehend （b） answer and respond （c） allow and let
The differences between synonyms boil down to three areas: denotation, connotation and application.1) Difference in denotation. Synonyms may differ in the range and intensity of meaning. Some words have a wider range of meaning than others. For group (a), the verb understand is used in a much more extended sense than comprehend. Whatever is comprehended is understood, but in many cases, comprehend cannot take the place of understand.2) Difference in connotation. By connotation ,we mean the stylistic and emotive coloring of words. Some words share the same denotation but differ in their stylistic appropriateness. For group (b), answer is native and not style-specific whereas respond is a borrowed word and is more formal. The borrowings are more appropriate for formal and technical writing.3) Difference in application. Many words are synonymous in meaning but different in usage in simple terms. They form different collocations and fit into different sentence patterns. For group (c), allow and let are synonyms, but we allow sb to do sth and let sb do sth.
