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the difference between these 3 phrases
Hello!!
What is the difference between erect a well on a farm dig a well on the farm build a well on the farm Are they substitutable? Thanks in advance
Technically you can't say "erect a well", since thats a contradiction. Erect is only used when building something that goes up, like a skyscraper. If you did use it people would still know what you meant.
Maybe "well" was not an ideal word to be used with "build" and "erect", but focussing on the difference between those two verbs, I have always felt that "erect" is more formal (or literary) than "build".
Just for the sake of interest, I have found an article which demonstrates that "erect" is of a more general use than "build", it can mean something like "set up", not necessarily a building or a construction. However, I find "erect" a little strange to be used in connection with the "object" in the article, so I would welcome any comments by others.
Here is the link to the article: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1541732.html
To me at least, "build" is compatible with the object "well", whereas "erect" sounds completely inappropriate to be used with the object "well".
I was thinking about that too, Geoff, but the main part of a well is still the underground shaft. A well can be with or without a covering structure, depending on how fancy you want it to be, but when I think of "well" I'm thinking mainly below ground. But you're right, you would "build" the wellhouse itself.
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