✅ Hold and contain can be used synonymously in most cases.

✅ However, hold usually emphasizes the container (The trailer should hold all the furniture), whereas contain emphasizes what is being kept in the container (The backpack contained all the food we would need for the trip).

✅ Hold and contain can both refer to something’s capacity, where the amount it can hold is the absolute maximum capacity (The can contains 16 ounces; The elevator holds ten people).

Try to contain your excitement about these synonyms!

✅ Person is the best word to refer to a human being (There’s a person waiting to see you).

✅ Individual is the best word to refer to a human being when you want to emphasize them as separate (He was a very quiet individual).

✅ Person and individual can be used interchangeably. You can use person more generally, whereas individual is usually used to refer to a single member of a group, to separate them from the rest (There were several individuals who expressed their disgust).

✅ Individual can sometimes be used in formal contexts, or in a detached way (We decided to arrest the individual; what a rude individual).

Try writing a short story about a strange individual with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ Collect means to gather or find things that create some kind of whole (collect action figures; collect evidence).

✅ Assemble means gathering things together in the same place in preparation for arranging them, or to gathering facts in order to make something from those facts (assemble the materials; assemble all the information).

✅ Although both collect and assemble can refer to gathering materials to do something, assemble implies gathering things for a purpose (assemble all the parts to build a camera), whereas collect suggests that the gathering itself is the purpose (collect novelty tea cups).

Try using assemble in a paragraph about building a model car, with the help of Grammar Coach.