If something bad is happening or about to happen, you definitely want to evade, avert, avoid, and prevent it! These four words are all synonyms, and they mean that you are either trying to stop something from happening or trying to get out of the way if it does. However, the situations in which you would use each word – and what they mean when you do – differ.
Avert means to turn away from. Most of the time you would say you “avert your eyes” or “avert your gaze” from something. While you do not take action to prevent something, you do lessen its impact on you.
However, you could also “avert a disaster”. This means that you are actively doing something to stop a disaster from happening. It might be that something bad has already begun, or that you see some warning signs that eventually could lead to disaster.
- When she noticed that the water bottle was being pushed towards the edge of the table, she quickly moved it to the center to avert a potential disaster.
- During the violent fight in the movie, he averted his gaze so he would not have to watch it.
To avoid something means that you actively try to stay away from something. Whether or not it happens, whether or not you can do something about it, you walk away from it. Most of the time you are trying your hardest to set yourself apart.
- You should avoid paying too much attention to grammar when you first learn a language because having the vocabulary to express yourself is more important.
- The man parked three blocks away so he could avoid having to find a parking space for his car in the crowded streets.
To evade something means that you escape it. The meaning is similar to avoid, except that evasion usually involves some sort of cleverness or trickery. If you have every asked someone a question, and they answered you with a question, for example, they are trying to evade you.
The person has already found themselves in a situation that does not look good for them, but their ability to think quickly and outsmart others allows them to evade it.
- I do not know how Harry evaded the police three times already, but make sure you think of every possibility to stop it from happening again!
- As long as you can evade your mom’s questions about whether or not you are dating yet, going home for the holidays should be fun!
Preventing something means that you take action to stop something from happening in the first place. This is similar to avert and avoid, but the situation is different. A disaster (or anything else) has not happened yet, and typically it has not even begun to happen. There may or may not be warning signs, but you choose to prevent something if you act then. The situation may or may not lead to your predicted outcome, but either way your job is to stop it as soon as possible.
- You should visit your primary care doctor at least once a year to prevent larger diseases from going undetected.
- The lines should have prevented visitors of the museum from going to the storage area, but Jack slipped by anyway.
