Note or Notice

Note or Notice Note or Notice Note or Notice By Maeve Maddox A reader wonders if there is a significant difference of connotation between the verbs â€Å"to note† and â€Å"to notice.† The question arose as he tried to decide between the following sentences to express the inner dialogue of a character: Rory noted that the CEO never asked for details. Rory noticed that the CEO never asked for details. Note, as both noun and verb, has been in the language since the Middle Ages. The earliest meaning of the noun was â€Å"a sign or symbol used in writing.† An early meaning of â€Å"to note† was â€Å"to put down a mark.† Eventually, the verb acquired additional meanings such as â€Å"to observe, to take notice of, to consider or study carefully.† Current usage includes these meanings as well as others, such as â€Å"to become aware of,† â€Å"to be struck by,† and â€Å"to put down in writing.† Notice in the sense of â€Å"to give notice of something† existed in the 15th century, but notice as a verb to mean â€Å"to take notice† didn’t come along until the 17th century, at which time it was rejected as an unnecessary Scotticism or Americanism for the phrase â€Å"to take notice.† The 1763 Universal Dictionary of the English Language included this caveat: â€Å"Notice should not be used as a verb.† Writing a little later (1789), another commentator observed that some English writers were using notice as a verb, but that it was â€Å"better† to avoid it. In regard to the reader’s question, I can offer only a personal reaction to the difference between the two sentences: Rory noted that the CEO never asked for details. Rory noticed that the CEO never asked for details. To me, the use of noted in the first sentence suggests that Rory is keeping track of the CEO’s behavior for some purpose, whereas noticed implies that Rory has merely observed the behavior in passing and is not trying to discern any particular significance in it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:60 Synonyms for â€Å"Walk†Body Parts as Tools of Measurement10 Tips About How to Write a Caption