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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

Aggravate - Deteriorate

Hello. I cannot understand the difference in the usage of deteriorate and aggravate. I am copying below an example I found in my textbook in which the correct answer is b (deteriorated).

He wouldn't have taken early retirement, had his health not ....
a. aggravated b. deteriorated

I was really confused when I looked the words up in the dictionary and I found the following example with aggravate:

Pollution can aggravate asthma.

Could please explain their difference to me?
  

Top answer

Here's the broad idea. His health deteriorated. His health became worse .

— Clive

  • Here's the broad idea.
  • His health deteriorated.
  • His health became worse .
  • Pollution aggravated his asthma .
  • Pollution made his asthma worse .
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3 Answers
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Here's the broad idea.

His health deteriorated. His health became worse.
Pollution aggravated his asthma. Pollution made his asthma worse.
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The difference most relevant to your question is that "deteriorate" is intransitive while "aggravate" is transitive.
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Now it's all clear to me. Thank you.
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