Отношения на английском: relations или relationship?
При передаче существительного «отношения» на английском можно использовать два слова: relations и relationship. При этом часто может быть сложно определить, какое из них следует выбрать в том или ином контексте, ведь в русском языке мы употребляем только одно слово – «отношения».
Например, как правильно:
• diplomatic relations или diplomatic relationship («дипломатические отношения»)?
• international relations или international relationship («международные отношения»)?
• business relations или business relationship («деловые отношения»)?
• personal relations или personal relationship («личные отношения»)?
• working relations или working relationship («рабочие отношения»)?
Отметим, что это довольно частая ситуация, когда на одно русское слово есть два английских. Некоторые из них рассмотрены в других статьях нашего блога. См., например, «Владеть» по-английски: own или possess?».
В чем же все-таки разница между relations или relationhip?
Relations
Relations – это отношения между странами, городами, организациями или большими группами людей:
• relations between Iraq and the U.S. – отношения между Ираком и США;
• Anglo-American relations – англо-американские отношения;
• international relations – международные отношения;
• relations between blacks and whites – отношения между чернокожим и белым населением;
• ethnic relations – этнические отношения;
• diplomatic relations – дипломатические отношения.
Relations – это отношения между странами, городами, организациями или большими группами людей
Слово relations присуще официально-деловому стилю, его часто можно встретить в англоязычных новостях, изданиях.
Relationship
Relationship – это отношения между конкретными людьми или небольшими группами людей, при этом часто подразумевается наличие эмоциональной связи между участниками отношений, в отличие от слова relations, которое всегда употребляется в более нейтральном контексте.
Часто слово relationship употребляется, когда речь идет об отношениях в паре, семье, между друзьями, но и не только:
• I am in a relationship with her – Я с ней в отношениях;
• romantic relationship – романтические отношения;
• parent-child relationship – отношения между родителями и детьми;
• mother-daughter relationship – отношения между матерью и дочерью;
• relationship with classmates – отношения с одноклассниками;
• landlord–tenant relationship – отношения между наймодателем и нанимателем;
• relationship between the brothers – отношения между братьями;
• relationship with the staff – отношения с персоналом;
• relationship between the leaders of the two countries – отношения между лидерами двух стран;
• relationship between doctors and patients – отношения между врачами и пациентами;
• relationship between man and woman – отношения между мужчиной и женщиной;
• relationship between the murderer and the murdered person – отношения между убийцей и убитым человеком;
• relationship between citizen and state – отношения между гражданином и государством;
• relationship between a bank and its correspondents – отношения между банком и его корреспондентами.
Часто слово relationship употребляется в паре с прилагательным good или bad либо похожими словами:
I have a good relationship with my mother.
Since our establishment, we have built up a fantastic relationship with our clients.
This began a terrible relationship between them that never changed (из книги It Didn’t Happen by Custom Multimedia Creations Inc., Francine Robinson).
При этом необходимо учитывать, что в сочетании с одним и тем же словом может употребляться как relations, так и relationship, в зависимости от контекста. К примеру, возможен вариант good relations with the neighbours (если имеются в виду соседние страны), а также возможен вариант good relationship with the neighbours (если имеются в виду живущие по соседству люди).
романтические отношения – romantic relationship
Relationship или relationships?
Часто по аналогии со словом relations, а также со словом «отношения», употребляемыми во множественном числе, возникает желание добавить букву s на конце существительного relationship, образовав таким образом множественное число – relationships. Чаще всего слово relationship употребляется в единственном числе – когда речь идет об отношениях с одним человеком (т. е. об одних отношениях). См. пример выше:
I have a good relationship with my mother. – У меня хорошие отношения с матерью.
Если же речь идет об отношениях с разными людьми (т. е. о нескольких отношениях), то слово relationship следует употребить во множественном числе – relationships:
I have good relationships with my friends. – У меня хорошие отношения с друзьями.
Вывод
Таким образом, разница между отношениями relations и отношениями relationship состоит в том, что у них разные субъекты. Кроме того, relationship отличает наличие эмоциональной связи между участниками отношений.
Для вашего удобства мы обобщили наши выводы в нижеприведенной таблице.
Relations | Relationship | |
Субъекты отношений | Страны, города, организации или большие группы людей: – relations between Iraq and the U.S. – relations between blacks and whites |
Конкретные люди или небольшие группы людей: – relationship between the brothers – relationship with classmates |
Эмоциональная связь между участниками отношений | Нет | Обычно есть |
Стиль речи | официально-деловой стиль | чаще в разговорной речи |
• дипломатические отношения – diplomatic relations;
• международные отношения – international relations;
• личные отношения – personal relationship;
• деловые отношения – business relationship;
• рабочие отношения – working relationship.
Надеемся, что теперь вы всегда будете правильно передавать слово «отношения» на английском. Отметим, что термины, употребленные в этой статье, а также многие другие слова и выражения из юридической лексики вы можете найти в нашем онлайн-словаре.
Relation vs. Relationship – What’s the Difference?
There are many words in English that sounds remarkably similar, and are even often used in similar contexts. One such example is “relation” vs. “relationship.” What is the real difference between these two words? Is there any significant distinction at all?
In this post, we’ll be going over the big differences between these two words and why they are important.
Relation vs. Relationship – What’s the Difference?
A relation is a connection between two things, while a relationship is the way in which two things are connected. Relation simply notes the existence of a connection, but relationship describes how or why two things are connected.
Admittedly, that’s pretty confusing. Let’s provide some simple examples to make the whole thing more clear. Take the following sentence:
- Bernard and Chris have no relation to one another.
In this case, “relation” is just a synonym for “connection.” Bernard and Chris have no connection, no way in which they are connected to each other. But now consider the following sentence:
- Chris and Bernard have a good relationship.
This sentence describes how the two are connected, albeit vaguely. It implies that they have an existing connection between one another that is beneficial. “Relationship” gives some insight into how two things are connected, whereas “relation” just specifies whether or not things are connected at all.
If that’s still confusing, don’t worry; we’re going to go into greater detail about all of this down below.
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Relation
The Cambridge Dictionary defines relation as “the connection or similarity between two things.” Basically, “relation” is a word used to define whether or not two things are connected, but it does not necessarily describe how they are connected.
For instance, you can say there is “some relation between the sun and the moon.” But that does not specify what kind of connection you are referring to, only that there is a connection of some sort. In this way, relation is not particularly descriptive or informative, and is just a synonym for “connection.”
To drive this point home, let’s look at some examples of how to use “relation” in a sentence:
- There is no relation between John Smith and Kenny Smith.
- The relation between the movie and the source material is thin at best.
- Despite looking very similar to that stranger, I have no relation to him whatsoever.
- There appears to be no relation between swimming and growing taller.
- The size of the targets bears no relation to their importance.
Relationship
The Cambridge Dictionary defines relationship as “the way in which two things are connected.” Admittedly, this doesn’t sound very different from “relation,” on the surface. The difference is subtle, but it is there. “Relationship” refers to how things are connected, not the fact that they are connected.
- Lack of trust is very destructive in a relationship.
- Lack of trust is very destructive to the way two people are connected.
Does it sound a little weird? Yes. Is it a little clunky when you think about what “relationship” means as a noun? Also yes. Unfortunately, this is one of those words in English that has an over-complicated definition and explanation for how simply it is used in everyday speech.
Because “relationship” sounds odd when standing alone, it is often accompanied by an adjective to make it obvious what kind of connection is actually being described. Most people would say that two people have a “good” or “bad” relationship as opposed to saying they just have “a relationship.”
Here are some examples of how to use “relationship” in a sentence:
- The mother and daughter have a strong relationship with one another.
- I do not have a very good relationship with my brother.
- There is an undisputable relationship between smoking and lung cancer.
- The relationship between poverty and lack of upward mobility is quite apparent.
- I am not sure what the relationship between those two is like.
Which Is Used the Most?
This graph from Google’s Ngram Viewer shows us that “relationship” is used must more often than “relation.”
In fact, it is used almost twice as frequently. This is mostly because “relationship” lends itself to more common topics of conversation, such as when discussing the relationship between people.
“Relation” is often used in more technical and scientific terms, so it doesn’t get used as frequently. In fact, while both of these words actually have unique meanings, most people would consider them to be interchangeable in actual speech. True or not, they are perceived as synonymous in many cases.
Final Thoughts
Relation is simply a connection between two things, but a relationship is the way in which two things are connected. A relation just means that two things are connected, but relationship, usually accompanied by proper context, describes what type of connection two things have.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
Difference between a Relation and a Relationship
The words “relation” and “relationship” are sometimes incorrectly interchanged, not only because the root word of “relationship” is “relation” but also because they both have to do with connections. Let’s take a look at this scenario:
Grace Weist, a 60-year old woman, lives in a nursing home. Paula Hernandez, a 22-year old volunteer, selflessly takes care of her every day as if Grace is her mother. Should we say, “Grace and Paula have a mother-daughter relation,” or should we say, “Grace and Paula have a mother-daughter relationship”? Confused? This article will discuss the difference between the two.
Summary Table
Definitions
- Refers to the mutual connection and interaction between countries and large groups of people; for example: “The relations between the Japan and South Korea have always been solid.”
- Refers to people related to each other; for example: “The millionaire invited all his relations, including the distant ones, to his daughter’s birthday party.”
- Means a “personal account”; for example: “The teacher was very abusive, according to the child’s relation.”
- Describes the sameness of two things; for example: “The relation between the series “Riverdale” and the original Archie comics is almost imperceptible.”
- Means “with reference to” when used in the phrase “in relation to”; for example: “Our class valedictorian wrote a 3-page essay in relation to the recent rules imposed by the school administration.”
On the other hand, relationship is commonly used in informal context. It is:
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- A common term that refers to the link between small groups of people; for example: “The relationship I had with my high school classmates was something I will treasure forever.”
- A connection between people and how they behave towards each other; for example: “My mom was furious when she found out my sister was in a relationship with an older guy.”
- A word that links two subjects; for example: “Many residents believe that there is a relationship between the grocery store theft that happened last night and the XYZ gang.”
Relation vs Relationship
What, then, is the difference between a relation and a relationship?
The word “relation” is typically used in a formal context. It can mean “the mutual connection between countries.” It also describes people who are related to each other or the sameness of two subjects. It also means “personal account.” Additionally, it is used in the phrase “in relation to” which means “with reference to.”
On the other hand, the word “relationship” is commonly used in an informal context. It describes the connection between small groups of people or the connection between specific people and how they act toward each other. It also describes how two things are connected.
In conclusion, we can say, “Grace was taken care of by Paula though she was no blood relation at all,” and that, “Grace and Paula have a mother-daughter relationship.”
Разница между словами relation и relationship
В английском языке существуют два существительных, которые имеют один и тот же перевод “отношение”: relation и relationship. Чтобы не путать данные слова в речи, посмотрим какая разница между этими словами.
Английское слово “relation” – это более официальное слово, его можно использовать, говоря об отношениях между странами, крупными компаниями, “связях с общественностью”.
Например,
Public Relation (PR: “пиар”). – Связи с общественностью, общественное мнение.
Relations between (the leaders of) the two countries have never been closer. – Отношения между странами никогда не были настолько близкими.
Английское слово “relationship” прежде всего используется в разговорном и неофициальном варианте, преимущественно для романтических и дружеских связей. Именно данное слова употребляют для фразы вроде “находиться с кем-либо в отношениях”.
Например,
They have a stable relationship. – У них крепкие отношения.
It was a relationship founded on mutual esteem. – Это были отношения, построенные на взаимном уважении.