Speaker 1: I visited my ninety seven year old aunt in the
nursing home the other day. I haven't seen her in
a while, and it was a bit of a pain
in the neck to get there, but it was totally
worth it. She said that, aside from a few aches
and pains, she's doing pretty good. Aches and pains, Now,
those are two words that tend to be a royal
pain for a lot of English learners. Let's check it out.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven ninety eight.
Ache versus pain. Building your vocabulary in English can sometimes
feel like a pain in the neck, especially when it
comes to English words that have similar meanings. Ache and
pain are two words that can make your brain hurt
when you try to remember how to use them. So
for today's English lesson, let's check out how we use
these two words. Pain is a noun and means a strong, sharp,
or sudden feeling of discomfort. We use pain when the
discomfort is severe, sharp, or sudden. In addition, pain is
usually more intense than ache, Like David he helt a
sharp pain in his knee after running for an hour,
he felt a sharp pain. And after her surgery, Linda
experienced a lot of pain, so the doctor gave her
medicine for that. Oh, and that reminds me. I went
to that spicy chicken wing place last weekend and the
wings were so hot I had a bad stomach pain
for a few hours after eating there. By the way,
you can also use pain to talk about emotional suffering,
like when it comes to romantic relationships, the pain of
a breakup can last a long time. That guy broke
Anna's heart and she never really recovered from the pain.
And do you remember the movie Titanic. That film showed
us the pain that Rose felt when Jack drowned in
the water, So that's pain. Pain is a noun. On
the other hand, we use ache as a noun and
as a verb. As a noun, ache means a dull,
continuous discomfort that lasts for a long time. Ache is
milder than pain and lasts longer, and ache is often
used for specific parts of the body, like a headache,
a backache, or a toothache. For example, Lisa has a
terrible headache after working on the computer all day. After exercising,
John felt a dull ache in his legs, and as
a verb, ache means to suffer from a dull, continuous discomfort,
like my back aches from sitting too long at my desk.
That's a problem with my kind of job. And after
shoveling snow this morning, my body aches all over. Johnny
said that everything ached after lifting those heavy boxes. So
this is how you can remember the difference. A pain
is strong, sharp, and sudden, like I have a sharp
pain in my shoulder. An ache is dull, long lasting
discomfort like my back aches after sitting all day. And
we often use ache with body parts headache, backache, stomach ache,
and toothache. By the way, we also use the phrase
aches and pains to describe minor discomfort in the muscles,
like aside from a few aches and pains, my aunt
says she's doing pretty well. According to her, aches and
pains are a usual part of getting older. We also
use the phrase no pain, no gain, which comes from
gym or fitness classes. No pain, no gain is a
standalone phrase which means suffering is a necessary part of
reaching your goal. Like it was hard lifting those weights
in the gym, but the trainer told me no pain,
no gain. Yep, the slogan no pain, no gain is
written in big letters on the wall in the fitness club.
And finally, a pain in the neck is something that's
bothersome or inconvenient to do. We also use a pain
in the rear, a pain in the butt, and a
pain in the ass. Just be careful with using the
phrase a pain in the ass because some people might
find that word ass offensive. Going to the post office
to renew my passport was a pain in the neck.
And my friend Joe wants to move out, but he
said it's a pain in the neck to look for
a new apartment. Jenny isn't dating anyone now because she
said dating is too much of a pain in the neck.
Keep in mind, the best way to remember English like
this and any other word or phrase in English is
to take that word or phrase, write it in a
sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. And you know what, You
can get more practice using your English when you join
my podcast Learner's study group. There you can make new friends.
Join us for live group lessons every week where we
practice these podcast lessons together. Plus you get access to
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podcast in the past and in the future. And on
top of that, each episode has exercises where you can
practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by me.
To learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot com and
choose podcast lesson seven ninety eight. Remember, learning another language
is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here
to help you on your journey.
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