This mini episode teaches you “passionate” and “compassionate,” two words that can be confusing because they look so similar.
Episode 240 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you “passionate” and “compassionate,” two words that can be confusing because they look so similar. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“This is Elena, from Russia. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 240 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
Today, I am going to talk about two words that look and sound very similar but mean different things.
And those two words are passionate and compassionate. Passionate and compassionate. Passionate is spelled p-a-s-s-i-o-n-a-t-e. And compassionate is spelled c-o-m-p-a-s-s-i-o-n-a-t-e. Passionate and compassionate.
Let’s start with passionate. What does passionate mean? Passionate means “full of strong feelings or emotions.” Passionate can also mean “very romantic.” When you hear the word passionate, you should think of strong feelings.
Compassionate looks and sounds very similar to passionate, but it means something very different. Compassionate means “concerned for other people” or “concerned about other people who are experiencing something difficult.” Compassionate is very similar to the word sympathetic.
Let’s look at some example sentences that contain these words.
“My friend becomes very passionate when he talks about soccer.” My friend becomes very passionate when he talks about soccer.
What does this sentence mean? It means when my friend talks about soccer, he is full of feeling. I guess he loves soccer, and he loves talking about soccer. So, when he talks about soccer, he is full of feeling. Full of strong emotions. He is passionate about soccer. He’s passionate when he talks about soccer.
Here is an example sentence that includes the word compassionate:
“The compassionate doctor always spends extra time with her patients.” The compassionate doctor always spends extra time with her patients.
What does this sentence mean? It means that the doctor who cares about her patients’ situation always spends extra time with her patients. It’s like saying, “The sympathetic doctor always spends extra time with her patients” or “The caring doctor always spends extra time with her patients.”
That is passionate and compassionate—two words that are very easy to get mixed up because they look and sound so similar.
Outro
That’s the end of episode 240 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Elena recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.