phrase, idiom, expression...are they the same?
I have always been curious to learn if there are any differences in what a spanish idiom is verses a spanish expression or a spanish phrase.
- for example por ejemplo
Is this an expression or an idiom?
Another question arises about writing in this box and what I see below is so so so plain....ugly.....??? No spacing, no tabing, no changing text. I see a lot of stuff written here that looks soooooo much better. How do they do it without putting in a whole lot of code? And pressing the How do I format my post? does not answer anything.
1 Answer
from www.dictionary.com: —Synonyms 1. Phrase, expression, idiom all refer to grammatically related groups of words.
A phrase is a sequence of two or more words that make up a grammatical construction, usually lacking a finite verb and hence not a complete clause or sentence: shady lane (a noun phrase); at the bottom (a prepositional phrase); very slowly (an adverbial phrase). In general use, phrase refers to any frequently repeated or memorable group of words, usually of less than sentence length or complexity: a case of feast or famine—to use the well-known phrase.
Expression is the most general of these words and may refer to a word, a phrase, or even a sentence: prose filled with old-fashioned expressions.
An idiom is a phrase or larger unit of expression that is peculiar to a single language or a variety of a language and whose meaning, often figurative, cannot easily be understood by combining the usual meanings of its individual parts, as to go for broke, kick the bucket or hang one's head
See link: make your posts more colorful
