Is your opinion ‘subjective’ or ‘objective’? What’s the actual difference between the two words? They sound similar, but do they mean similar things? We’ll cover that in this article, plus teach you how to use both words correctly in a sentence.
Don’t feel like skimming for the answer? Here is it:
As you just learned, the difference between ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’ is that the former means ‘personalized’ and ‘individualized,’ and the latter means ‘observational.’
These words are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably, but there’s a correct way to use them both.
‘Subjective’ is based on or influenced by someone’s personal feelings, opinions, or personal tastes.
However, ‘objective’ means the opposite. It’s not based on someone’s personal feelings or opinions and is instead based on fact.
Therefore, you should never use these terms interchangeably. We’ll look at how to use them both in a sentence later, but first, let’s define both words.
The Merriam-Webster definition of ‘subjective’ is: “of, relating to, or constituting a subject,” “of, relating to, or characteristic of one that is a subject especially in lack of freedom of action or in submissiveness,” “being or relating to a grammatical subject, especially nominative,” “of or relating to the essential being of that which has substance, qualities, attributes, or relations,” and “characteristic of or belonging to reality as perceived rather than as independent of mind: phenomenal.”
It also means: “relating to or being experience or knowledge as conditioned by personal mental characteristics or states,” “peculiar to a particular individual: personal,” “modified or affected by personal views, experience, or background,” “arising from conditions within the brain or sense organs and not directly caused by external stimuli,” “arising out of or identified by means of one’s perception of one’s own states and processes,” and “lacking in reality or substance: illusory.”
As a noun, it means: “something that is subjective.”
Synonyms of the word include:
The Merriam-Webster definition of ‘objective’ is: “expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations,” “limited to choices of fixed alternatives and reducing subjective factors to a minimum,” “of, relating to, or being an object, phenomenon, or condition in the realm of sensible experience independent of individual thought and perceptible by all observers: having reality independent of the mind,” “involving or deriving from sense perception or experience with actual objects, conditions, or phenomena,” and “perceptible to persons other than the affected individual.”
It also means: “relating or existing as an object of thought without consideration of independent existence (used chiefly in medieval philosophy)” and “relating to, characteristic of, or constituting the case of words that follow prepositions or transitive verbs.”
As a noun, it means: “something toward which effort is directed: an aim, goal, or end of action,” “a strategic position to be attained or a purpose to be achieved by a military operation,” and “a lens or system of lenses that form an image of an object.”
Synonyms of the word include:
Noun
Adjective
Now that you know what both words mean let’s take a look at how to use them both in a sentence. First, some examples of how to use ‘subjective.’
Now, let’s see some examples of how to use ‘objective’ in a sentence.
To recap, we’ve learned that ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’ are opposites. The former is based on opinion, and the latter is based on fact. With the above examples in mind, you should have no problem creating your own sentences.
If you get stuck, don’t be afraid to pop back over and take a quick browse to refresh your memory. We’ve also got a whole library of content that can help you with other confusing words and phrases you might come across while learning the language.
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