What is the difference between remain and be left? Which sentence below is correct or normal?
An ace of spades remained.
An ace of spades was left.
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Sign up to join this communityWhat is the difference between remain and be left? Which sentence below is correct or normal?
An ace of spades remained.
An ace of spades was left.
An ace of spades remained.
This places the emphasis on the fact that an ace of spades is still there after some other cards were removed.
An ace of spades was left.
This places the emphasis on the sequence of actions that led to other cards being removed, but not the ace of spades.
More context is necessary to choose the best answer, but both are grammatically correct.
remain
is more neutral word than be left
? The context is "you can not remove a king because only an ace will remain(or be left) if you remove the king. Having only aces is forbidden.". I think both the fact(ace will remain or be left) and the sequence of actions(if you remove the king) are important. Which word shoud I use in the context?
– js_
Sep 27 '11 at 4:04
If the subject is a person, the difference is one of volition:
If you say:
I remained on the desert island.
then it was probably your choice; you wanted to stay there.
If you say:
I was left on the desert island.
then maybe the ship left without realizing you weren't aboard, or maybe you were marooned there by your mutinous crew. But either way, it probably wasn't your decision.
If the subject is the ace of spaces, then there really isn't any difference.
There is no difference between the two, to call a spade a spade!