Perhaps you’ve heard these words in the news daily throughout the past year. But, have you noticed that even the media are not always using them correctly? The incorrect word will flash across the news ticker during various news reports, even at the national level, so today we’re deciding between emigrant and immigrant. Should we use emigrate or immigrate? Let’s see how you do in choosing the correct word. Decide upon your answers, and then check your results.

 

1. More than 7,000 [immigrants, emigrants] left Central America and arrived at the U.S. border last summer.

 

2. Zamir and his family [immigrated, emigrated] from Turkey in 2019.

 

Scroll for the definitions and answers:

 

Emigrant / Immigrant

An emigrant is one who leaves one’s home or residence by going out. An immigrant is the opposite; immigrants come into a town or country. One little hack that helps me is to associate the “e” in emigrate with “exit” and the “i” in immigrate with “into.” The difference in meanings boils down to your point of view, whether you’re coming or going.

 

Answers:

 

1. Emigrants
2. Emigrated

 

And, if you have any clever ways to remember the differences in sometimes confusing word pairs, please comment, and we’ll share them in an upcoming blog post. I’m always on the lookout for tips, tricks, and techniques—even the corny-sounding ones—for remembering grammar guidelines and vocabulary words.

 

To customize a keynote or professional development session that will have your audience laughing and learning, contact Mandi Stanley.

Certified Speaking Professional Mandi Stanley works with business leaders who want to boost their professional image by becoming better speakers and writers through interactive high-content keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, technical writing seminars, and fun proofreading classes. 

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