Avoid or Prevent?

There are some pairs of English words that seem to present special problems for English learners.

One of the most frequently confused word pairs is avoid and prevent.

Think of prevent as something you do before a particular problem or situation.

A very popular ad in the U.S. features Smokey the Bear.

Smokey the Bear tells you to do certain things to prevent forest fires. For example, you should not drop a lit cigarette on the ground. You should make sure any fire you have built is completely soaked with water before you leave. All these actions may prevent a forest fire from happening. If you prevent something, it won’t happen at all … at least to you.

Think of avoid as something you do when a particular problem or situation already exists. For example, if there is a forest fire nearby, you will avoid it. If you are driving and there is a hole in the road, you will avoid it. If a certain kind of food makes you sick, you will avoid it.

To help you remember these words, think of sentences that use them both. For example:

To prevent a car accident, avoid driving too fast.

To prevent being late for work, avoid sleeping too late.

To prevent getting fat, avoid eating too much.

To prevent cancer, avoid smoking.

To prevent failing your class, avoid studying too little.

In future blog posts, I’ll talk about other word pairs that I frequently hear being confused.