Learn English – In which cases do we use “collect” and in which “gather”

word-choiceword-difference

I can never know for sure which word to use outside foresting and foraging.

I've always thought them to be interchangeable most of the time.

However, when it comes to berries or fruit we use gather and can't use collect. And when speak we about items or stuff like coins we use collect.

What about these cases:

  • I need to gather/collect information.
  • If you gather/collect everyone we will start the meeting.
  • He went there to gather/collect junk.

So, in which case do we use collect and in which gather?

Best Answer

Collect X basically implies you will keep or contain X after obtaining X. Gather X may not necessarily have this implication, you usually have to express it or suggest it via context.

Because we usually don't force people against their will or put them in containers, gather is often used with people, unless we are transporting them.

We are gathered here today to talk about the monorail.

I've collected a few people and they are ready [sounds like the people aren't real people, but a manager may say this in treating people as resources]

This device gathers rainwater [implying rainwater flows through it]

This device collects rainwater [when it's done raining, the water stays]

If the X's you are wanting to aggregate exist over a wide area, gather helps to suggest that.

We walked around the plains and gathered berries.

Using collect in this situation implies there is only a few or exact known number of X.

We walked around the plains and collected berries [these must have been some special berries.]

Collect X can also mean "to keep X as part of a collection" or "to receive something as payment, especially to repay a debt."

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