"
Award" or "
reward"? Both sound similar, both can be used as nouns
and verbs, and they both involve receiving something for an accomplishment. Distinguishing between the two can be tricky for English learners who don't have clear equivalents in their own language.
For the sake of simplicity, lets focus these words as nouns. In French, WordReference defines "
reward" as:
- récompense
- compensation
- prix
And "
award" as:
- récompense
- prix
- trophée
There is some difference then, in French, since you can define "reward" as
compensation (which does mean "compensation"), and "award" as
trophée ("trophy"); but what about when those translations don't work? After all, "awards" don't always come in the form of trophies, and insurance companies certainly do not hand out "rewards" to people who break their legs or crash their cars.
So what's the difference? Merriam-Webster online defines them as follows:
- Reward - money or another kind of
payment that is given or received for something that has been done or
that is offered for something that might be done
- Award - something (such as a prize) that is given to someone or something for being excellent or for doing something that is admired
I would add that a "reward" is usually meant to be
used or
consumed rather then kept. That being the case, "rewards" often come in the form of money (if you're a bounty hunter)...
...or something yummy...
...or something pretty and shiny.
Either way, "rewards" are direct
récompenses that are
designed to motivate people to take a specific action.
"Awards," on the other hand, are usually meant to be
kept and
displayed. They are often more noble and represent something truly admirable that a person has done.
Like winning a sports competition...
...or outstanding bravery in military service...
...or even for never missing a day at school. :-)
Of course there are also "prizes" in English, but that is pretty similar to
prix in French. It's something you win in a competition, for anything from guessing right on a game show...
...to making significant contributions to human civilization.
*********
I think that makes everything pretty clear--but just for fun, let's put this in Star Wars terms: :-)
If you like "rewards," be like Bobba Fett.
If you like "awards," you just have to be like Luke and Han.
Or if you're Han Solo, you could just have both....
Leia: "You needn’t worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that’s what you’ll receive."
As for "prizes," Admiral Ackbar's got you covered:
To further complicate things there are also concepts like a REWARDing experience and a PRIZEd possession...ah, language!
ReplyDeleteYeah...I was thinking also about how I would translate the lines from Samurai Champloo's opening theme: "The ultimate award is honor not awards." I guess it would be "L'ultime récompense, c'est l'honneur pas des trophées."
ReplyDeleteAs for a "prized possession" I think that would be an "objet précieux" or a "bien précieux," while a "rewarding experience" would be "une expérience enrichissante."