Distinguishing Between Announce & Advertise

Announce and Advertise are two words that are often confused due to the similarity in their meanings. In fact, there is some difference between the two words. The word ‘announce’ is used in the sense of ‘proclaim’ or ‘voice out’ or ‘to make known’ as in the sentences:

1. The results were announced today.
2. He announced the list of prize winners.

In both the sentences, you can see that the word ‘announce’ is used in the sense of ‘to make known’ and hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘the results were made known today’. The meaning of the second sentence would be ‘he made known the list of prize winners’ or ‘he voiced out the list of prize winners’.

On the other hand, the word ‘advertise’ is used in the sense of ‘to spread a word about’ as in the sentences:

1. He advertised the products in the news paper.
2. I think it is better you advertise online.

In both the sentences, you can see that the word ‘advertise’ is used in the sense of ‘to spread a word about’ and hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘he spread a word about the products in the news paper’, and the meaning of the second sentence would be ‘I think it is better you spread a word about (it) online’.

Key Takeaways

• Announce means to proclaim or make known, while advertise means to spread a word about something.
• Announce is primarily used as a verb and has its noun form in the word “announcement.”
• Advertise also has its noun form in the word “advertisement” and its abstract noun form in the word “advertising.”