What is the difference between ruin and wreck and how can I use them?
For example
Digital world ruins / wrecks family ties.
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@Mr. Hyde posted:What is the difference between ruin and wreck and how can I use them?
For example
Digital world ruins / wrecks family ties.
Hello, Mr. Hyde, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange.
Are you interested in how "ruin" and "wreck" can be used as verbs or as nouns? Each word can be either a verb or a noun. What about the definitions of these two words in dictionaries has confused you?
I'd like to know the difference between them as verbs especially when I use them with material and non-material nouns.
@Mr. Hyde posted:I'd like to know the difference between them as verbs especially when I use them with material and non-material nouns.
As verbs, "wreck" and "ruin" are fairly synonymous, as you can see by the fact that one of Merriam-Webster's definitions of "ruin" (3c) is "to ruin, damage, or imperil" by a wreck.
Each word can be used with material nouns ("The collision wrecked the car"; "You have ruined my car") and with non-material nouns ("His remark ruined my day"; "The incident wrecked his career").