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SheltieBites Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Assess/ Weigh

"Officials are still assessing the situation."
"Officials are still weighing the situation."

There must be some difference here.
  

Top answer

Not really. 'Assess' may seem more formal.

  • Not really.
  • 'Assess' may seem more formal.
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8 Answers
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Not really. 'Assess' may seem more formal.
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Suppose a business proposal is being discussed:

"He is assessing the merit of the proposal."
"He is weighing the merit of the proposal."

Could it still be that the only difference is the formal-ness of "assess"?
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The word you want is 'formality'.

Yes, if even that. However, 'weigh the merits of' is also a collocation.
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Thanks for your time and patience, Mr Micawber!

Let me take one more shot at this:

"The jury assessed the evidence before announcing the verdict."
"The jury weighed the evidence before announcing the verdict."

I don't know what to make of this.
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They are two synonymous statements. 'Weigh' collocates more highly with 'evidence' than 'assess' does.
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"The employer weighed all the given information while assessing each job application."
"The employer assessed all the given information while weighing each job application."

Could one be wrong?
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Could one be wrong?-- No.

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