What is the difference between arrive and reach?
When you ride a train or a plane to your destination, you arrive there. If you climb Everest, you reach the mountain top.
Like Milanya says, “to reach” implies some effort, while “to arrive” does not. In addition, “to reach” is used in many idioms and common metaphors, such as “to reach a verdict”. Lastly, you can arrive at a place, but not reach at a place, while you can reach a place, but not reach at a place. For other differences, consult an (on-line) dictionary.
WRONG !!! Man O Man … you two…
Arrive is a travel term … to arrive at the chosen destination. Therefore if travelling up a mountain, one could definitely say we have arrived at the peak.
Arrive can also be used in a non physical sense “as if for instance: travelling to a conclusion” e.g. I have arrived at a conclusion.
Reach has the meaning of … the extention of something to gain hold or understanding.
Reach is also a term often used to mean “achieved” so again we could say … I have reached the top of the mountain.
Other similar word “attain” which you may also consider including in your learning to reach or arrive at a more complete understanding…
DO NOT: throw dictionaries at me! I don’t believe any of them. Dictionaries are for reference not the be all and end all of learning a language …
Hi Rfaleet,
Let’s look at the similarity in the two verbs ‘reach’ ‘arrive’. They both have the same basic meaning - to get to. The use grammatically is that ‘reach’ takes a definite object without a preposition and ‘arrive’ takes an object after the preposition 'at. We then see: We reached our destination in the morning/We arrived at our destination in the morning. They both can also be used in figurative expressions such as ‘reach an agreement’ and ‘arrive at a decision’.
Alan
Milanya
Cerberus™
HamburgEnglish
Alan
Thanks very much for your reply .
I have another question,
What is the difference between especially and specially?
special – (adjective) of a distinct or particular kind or character: a special kind of key.
especially –(adverb) particularly; exceptionally; markedly: Be especially watchful.
Usage note:
In American English the adjective special is overwhelmingly more common than especial in all senses: He will be of special help if you can’t understand the documentation. The reverse is true of the adverbs; here especially is by far the more common: He will be of great help, especially if you have trouble understanding the documentation. Only when the sense “specifically” is intended is specially more idiomatic: The machine was specially designed for use by a left-handed operator.
I have posted about this before:
english-test.net/forum/ftopic45835.html
Note that many native speakers do not make the distinction now as consistently as it used to be made, as Milanya says.
Oh Man Cerberus … So much hard work … thank you …
…
But ??? I’ll say no more … (you are certainly so sure)
I’ll just quote the words of Bruce Lee to you …
For one to learn, one must first forget. I cannot teach you anything because your cup is already full.
… and thanks for correcting the typos, placing of the not-required hyphens and commas, and of course your comments, which at the very minimum will hopefully trigger others to learn more and understand why my quote above fits you so perfectly …
Sheeeesh !![/i]
'Tis the season to be jolly, fal la la la la, lalalala.
:-)))
la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa So where is your red coat and hat DAD???
Have a wonderful Christmas in the UK and I wish you all the best for the New Year.
Got family visiting this year from Wales, but with all this snow they may need Santa’s help to get here …
Rob
My apologies, I should have ignored that; consider it a weak moment.
.
Milanya, I appreciate your consideration and your time.Thanks alot.
Cerberus™
Your link is very useful.
Thanks.