DISTINCT, DISTINCTIVE

INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL

Read and translate the following sentences paying special attention to the words in bold type.

1. The sky reddened over his shoulder and the palm-trees turned black and distinct. 2. The buildings became taller and thinner and more distinct from each other. 3.«You make it sound so ordinary,» said Norma. There was a distinct overtone of annoyance in her voice. 4. Johnny smiled patiently, and his mother was aware of a distinct shock at the persistent absence of his peevishness and irritability. 5. She spoke in a very distinct voice which carried right to the back of the hall. 6. He knew she would never drink the whole bottle: it has a distinctive taste, and a glass of it would tell Rose Klonec that it was bad, even if she did not know why. 7.Every member of the family had the same distinctive head of red hair. 8. But, of course, I’m not as distinctive as you are. I mean you wouldn’t be able to tell me very easily from a lot of other elderly women. I don’t stand out, very much, do I? 9.Poirot looked at the portrait that hung behind Restarick’s head. It showed very plainly the man who was sitting at the desk, there were the distinctive features, the obstinacy of the chin, the quizzical eyebrows, the poise of the head, but the portrait had one thing ‘that the man sitting in the chair beneath it lacked: youth!

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Distinct adj. 1. Easily heard, seen, understood; clearly perceptible; plain; definite; clearly marked, unmistakable, decided, e.g. a ~ writing, a ~ speech, a ~ noise, a ~ image, a ~ voice, a ~ view, a ~ memory, a ~ shadow. 2. Different in quality or kind, separate, individual, not identical, e.g. ~ from each other, to keep two things ~, ~ animals, ~ dialects.

Distinct as applied to two or more things, stresses that each has a different identity and is unmistakably separate from the others.

Antonym: indistinct adj. Derivatives: distinctly adv., indistinctly adv.

Distinctive adj. Serving to mark a difference, making distinct; characteristic, e.g. a ~ uniform.

Distinct and distinctive are not synonymous adjectives. Distinct (ясный, отчетливый; различный, разный, отличный от) has a wider sphere of application. It can be applied’to anything that is clear, plain, or has an identity of its own. Distinctive (отличительный, характерный, различительный) implies a characteristic feature that makes a person, thing, etc. different (==distinct) from others.