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Christine Christie Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

Deflect vs veer

1. Would the verb 'to deflect' make sense in this context:



"Yesterday, while jogging, I turned a corner, and I almost hit a bus. I DEFLECTED to the left as quickly as I could, and the bus just scraped past me."




2. And would it mean the same as in the following sentence:


"Yesterday, while jogging, I turned a corner, and I almost hit a bus. I VEERED to the left as quickly as I could, and the bus just scraped past me."

  

Top answer

Not really. 'Deflected' implies something has been caused to change direction by another thing. It's not easy to use it in the active voice when referring to a person, especially if you're trying to say it was the person who changed direction.

— David Hatton

  • Not really.
  • 'Deflected' implies something has been caused to change direction by another thing.
  • It's not easy to use it in the active voice when referring to a person, especially if you're trying to say it was the person who changed direction.
  • You really need an object when using it, which is why your sentence doesn't quite work.
  • I was deflected by...
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2 Answers
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Not really. 'Deflected' implies something has been caused to change direction by another thing. It's not easy to use it in the active voice when referring to a person, especially if you're trying to say it was the person who changed direction. You really need an object when using it, which is why your sentence doesn't quite work.

I was deflected by...

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Christine Christie"Yesterday, while jogging, I turned a corner, and I almost hit a bus. I VEERED to the left as quickly as I could, and the bus just scraped past me."

That is a good, natural sentence. Veer is intransitive. It does not take an object.

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