Action vs event

Question

Both seem to have the same meaning: take place in space and time.The only difference I can find is that an event is more of a public/social thing.Thanks

Avangi · Accepted Answer

I can't think of many cases in popular usage where it would be natural to substitute one for the other.

Perhaps in the pure or scientific sense it would work, and that's a maybe.

A solar eclipse would be an event, but could also be described as an action.

A concert by the Beatles would be an event, in the sense you describe.

The eruption of a volcano would be both an action and an event.

Someone assassinating President Kennedy would be both an action and an event.

"The action of the wind blowing the sand against the statue, over time, has eroded its features."

"Every action produces an equal and opposite reaction."

"In the event of rain, the game will be cancelled."

"The president swiftly took action to close the detention center at Gitmo."

We may describe something as an event and we may describe it as an action, but once we've written the sentence, it's difficult to substitute one word for the other.

The definitions may be interchangeable, but the focus in using the terms tends to be different.

Mr Wordy · Answer

The core difference is that an "action" refers to someone (or something) doing something, while an "event" is anything that happens.

Both words have acquired a number of more specific meanings. The "public/social thing" you're thinking of is a common example. An "event" might be a party or a social gathering, a sporting contest, a show put on for entertainment, and so on. This meaning may seem separated from the core meaning, but ultimately it's the same thing: parties and shows are things that "happen". Lots of other things unrelated to social activity also "happen" and these may also be termed "events".

Avangi · Answer

Mr WordyThe core difference is that an "action" refers to someone (or something) doing something,

Hi, Mr. Wordy,

You may have gathered I struggled with this thing. What eludes me is how to handle the intransitive actions which seem worthy of being so described.

The volcano erupted; the bomb exploded; the car crashed; the man fell.

Best regards, - A.

Mr Wordy · Answer

AvangiThe volcano erupted; the bomb exploded; the car crashed; the man fell.

Although "the man fell" is grammatically in the active voice, it has a passive sense. For this reason, it doesn't seem very natural to me to say that a man falling is an "action". A man jumping would be an "action".

With the exception of physical processes (and possibly some other things I can't immediately bring to mind), "action" to me usually suggests intentional human activity. So, "the action of the waves" and "the action of gravity" seem fine, but I wouldn't naturally call a volcano erupting, a bomb exploding or a car crashing "actions". I think there are some differences here too between the definite and indefinite articles, and the use of "action" as an uncountable noun is different again (where car crashes could be part of "action" in general, say in a film). The usage seems quite complicated.

Anonymous · Answer

In computer science, the difference between an action and an event is as follows. Firstly, an action is a primitive notion, while an event is defined with respect to an action. An action is usually defined based on its effects; for example, the action x = y + z can be interpreted as the act of setting the value of variable x to be equal to the sum of the values of variables y and z. It is easy to understand that an action can be defined without ever being performed. So now that the notion of action is clear, it is easy to define the notion an event in terms of an action. An event is defined as the occurrence of an action. An event is produced whenever an action is performed. An event is an instance of an action.

These notions can easily be used in non-computer-science discussions; take for example the sentence, "Last night's Metallica concert was amazing." The sentence refers to last night's Metallica concert, which is the event, and the action that produced the event was Metallica playing music for a crowd of people. Every time Metallica plays music for a crowd of people, Metallica produces an event.

Post written on June 26th, 2010 by Manuel Carrier-Nunes.

Avangi · Answer

Good explanation, Manuel.  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

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