✅  Both kinship and relationship refer to connections between people.

✅  Relationship can be used for all kinds of connections between people, including those based on birth, marriage, friendship, or mentorship.

✅  Relationship is most often used to refer to romantic connections between people. The phrase in a relationship almost always means that you are connected with someone romantically. Other kinds of relationships are usually specified with some sort of qualifier (They had a professional relationship).

✅  Kinship often suggests a blood relationship, but it is also sometimes used to refer to a strong sympathy between people or in the context of chosen family (There was an immediate sense of kinship between them). It’s not the right word for romantic relationships.

With the help of Grammar Coach, try using kinship in a paragraph about family expectations.

✅  Fear is often focused on something specific that has been and will likely be encountered again (She had a fear of needles) or something that’s being encountered presently (Fear filled him when he heard the wolf howl). However, fear does not have to be attached to a specific event.

✅  Dread suggests a sense of anticipation (I was filled with dread about my upcoming interview), and usually surfaces when there’s a specific event happening or about to happen. You can have a fear of spiders all the time; you experience dread when you know you’re going to have to face a spider in the near future.

✅  Dread and fear can both be used in situations that are difficult rather than scary. When fear is used in this context, it’s often in a statement about not being afraid (They had no fear of losing).

With the help of Grammar Coach, try using the word dread while writing about a pack of werewolves!

✅  Get and acquire are both used in the context of gaining possession of something.

✅  Get can be used in most circumstances, and can apply to things that aren’t tangible or physical (I got a promotion), or even things that you don’t actually want (I hope I don’t get a cold).

✅  Acquire often implies that you went to some effort to attain something, and stresses the fact that you’ve now got it (They finally acquired the rights to the music; Through training, I’ve acquired the necessary skills).

✅  While words like buy or purchase specify ways to get something, acquire can obscure how someone got it, sometimes even suggesting that it was stolen without saying so directly (The two brothers suddenly acquired new watches).

Acquire an even better vocabulary with these synonyms for get!