Until now, I knew that regulate and control are synonyms and hence they can be used interchangeably. But now I am confused about it because of the following sentence:
Production,distribution and sale will stay in private hands, but the government will control and regulate the whole process.
Please explain how we can use control and regulate as given in the above sentence. Is there any difference in their meaning?
Best Answer
Regulate and control are similar in meaning, but they are not exact synonyms. When referring to government actions, the meaning of regulate is usually
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regulate, definition 1b2)
Control is a little more general, and often is used to mean
or
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/control, definitions 2a and 2b)
So the original sentence means something like:
Production, distribution and sale will stay in private hands, but the government will have power over the whole process and will make regulations concerning it.