Leave and Abandon are two words in the English language that are often used as interchangeable words. They are not interchangeable in character for there is some difference in their meaning and connotations.
The word ‘leave’ gives the sense of ‘go away from’ as in the sentence ‘I shall leave the park in an hour’. In the sentence, the word ‘leave’ is used in the sense of ‘going away from the park in a specified period of time’.
On the other hand, the word ‘abandon’ is used in the sense of ‘give up completely’. Look at the two sentences given below:
1. He abandoned the hope.
2. He abandoned his home and went to the forest.
In the first sentence, you get the idea that the person has given up the hope completely. In the second sentence, you get the idea that the individual has given up or left his home forever and retired to the forest. This is the major difference between the two words.
In other words, it can be said that the word ‘abandon’ gives the additional sense of ‘giving up something forever’ as in the expression ‘abandoned the game’. The expression gives the meaning that the person has given up the game for ever.
The word ‘abandon’ gives an extra sense of ‘forsake’ or ‘desert’ as in the sentence ‘he abandoned his children’ in the sense of ‘he deserted his children’.
On the other hand, the word ‘leave’ gives the sense of ‘depart without taking’ as in the sentence ‘he left his gloves in his home’. Here it means that the person departed from his home without taking his gloves. The word ‘leave’ is often followed by the preposition ‘for’ as in the sentence ‘he is leaving for Paris tonight’. The two words should be used with precision and care.
Key Takeaways
- Leave means to go away from, while abandon means to give up completely.
- Abandon gives an extra sense of forsake or desert, making it more permanent than leave.
- Leave usually involves a temporary departure, while abandon implies a more permanent departure or giving up of something.
