Distinguishing Between Aid & Aide

Aid vs Aide

There is only an additional letter “e” that separates aid from aide, but this single letter makes all the difference that is the source of confusion and misunderstanding. Both aid and aide have the same pronunciations creating further problems for the students of the English language. Not knowing the differences between aid and aide results in students often making mistakes and using aid and aide interchangeably. This can be very annoying for puritans. This article takes a closer look at aid and aide to come up with their differences.

Aid is a word that means help or assistance. It can be used both as a noun and as a verb. It means assistance when it is used as a noun, and while as a verb, aid means providing help or assistance. You may have heard about first aid, hearing aid, humanitarian aid, etc. to describe the kind of help and assistance. Monetary aid from the IMF to countries is very commonplace these days. There are many developing and poor countries that cannot survive without foreign aid.

Take a look at the following examples to understand the meaning and usage of the word aid more clearly.

• One should always get first aid in case of a burn injury.

• My uncle makes use of a hearing aid.

• Many developing countries look for monetary aid from the IMF.

Aide is a word that is used only for human beings who provide help or assistance. Aide is always a noun. You are an aide to your wife in the kitchen if you help in making dishes. The word aide is never used for an inanimate object. It is always used for a human being. Thus, Presidents have aides and even General Managers of companies have aides. A personal assistant to anyone is referred to as his aide. The word aide is mostly used in military and political settings.

Key Takeaways

• Aid is a noun that means help or assistance, while an aide is a human being who provides help or assistance.
• Aide is always used for human beings providing help, whereas for inanimate objects, it is aid that is used (e.g., first aid, hearing aid, monetary aid).
• An aide is a helper or assistant, while aid is help or assistance; aide is never used for inanimate objects.

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