decide vs. determine

[유진승]

Decide and determine have a vast range of meaning, and comparing them thoroughly will take pages of work. But one important difference is that decide expresses a choice or opinion, while determine has to do with facts. BE examples:

@ The problem is people don"t know how to decide what to do.
@ Security officials are meeting to decide how to handle thousands of people who...
@ I have still not fully decided what I think of his challenge.

@ The size of the chicken pieces will determine the cooking time (Collins).

@ One of our major projects is to determine the DNA sequence of the human genome. (= find out)

Here, "what to do" and  "how to handle..." are choices, while "what I think..." is an opinion. So decide means making a choice or forming an opinion. In contrast,  "cooking time" and "DNA sequence" are facts, and so determine means causing or finding out a fact.

But when we talk about words distinctions, we must always remember that there are always grey cases, where either word can be used. For instance:

The government still hasn"t determined how many traders to indict initially.

Here, "how many traders to indict" can be thought of either as a fact (the number of people indicted) or choice (how many it chooses to indict). Here determine is used in favor or the former option, but you can also take the latter option and say "decide".

So there is no reason to worry or make things difficult. Just follow the distinction you know, and if the distinction is unclear, just use any of the two.

But again, this is not the whole story. Determine can express a strong decision and determination (결심) instead of facts when it is use in the form determine to or be determined to.

He determined to rescue his two countrymen (Collins). -> 구하기로 결심했다.

I am determined to succeed (Oxford). -> 성공하기로 결심했다.

In this case the difference would be that decide  focuses on the act of making a choice, while determine focuses on the inner state of mind.

I"ve decided to do it. --> I"ve made a choice. (결정)

I"ve (am) determined to do it. --> I  have a determination to do it. (결심)

[hyunook]

Thanks you so much!^^

[로빈]

영한번역과 관련지어 한마디. The size of the chicken pieces will determine the cooking time. (이 경우 의미상 depend on과 일맥상통한다. "...에 달려 있다", "좌우되다"로 번역할 수 있다.) One of our major projects is to determine the DNA sequence of the human genome. (기존 영한사전에서 determine을

[로빈]

찾아보면 "파악하다"란 말은 안 나온다. 그러나 이 경우처럼 "파악하다"란 뜻으로 쓰이는 것을 꽤 흔히 볼 수 있다.)

[신보영]

Is there any difference between " determine to " and "be determined to"?