Response vs Respond
There are many noun and verb pairs that are sources of confusion for people who are trying to master English as a language. This is because of their similar spellings and also because they sound similar. One such pair is ‘response and respond’ where one is a noun, and the other is its verb. Yet people remain confused between the two as they do not know which one to use in a particular situation. This article tries to remove all doubts concerning the usage of response and respond.
Response
The reaction to a stimulus can be considered a response by a person. So, if it starts to rain suddenly making you open your umbrella, the act of opening umbrella is the response given by the individual to the stimulus of rain. This means that a response can be a verbal reply, or it could be physical like shaking hands with a person.
When a mosquito bites a person, the person starts to scratch at the place on his body, and which is his response to mosquito bite. Response is, therefore, something that a person gives to any stimulus.
Examples:
• I am not getting the kind of response from my friend that I am used to get.
• His letters to the department elicited lukewarm response only.
• He paid his balance in his credit card in response to a letter of reminder from the company.
Respond
If someone is waiting for your reply, he is actually waiting for your response, or, waiting for you to respond. This sentence makes it clear that the action or reply to a question is the response one gives while the actual act is what is meant by respond.
Respond is to react. So when you get a reply to your question, you say that he responded to my query. To speak in reply to a question is to respond verbally while to act in reply to a stimulus is to respond in an appropriate manner.
Examples:
• Henry responded with a laugh when I gave a suggestion.
• The French Military responded by bombing at the enemy lines.
• Please respond to my offer quickly.
What is the difference between Response and Respond?
• Response is noun while respond is its verb
• You wait for a response while you respond to a stimulus
• A doctor waits for the response shown by his patient to the drugs administered
• You give a response to a stimulus while you are said to respond to a stimulus.
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