Oral versus verbal

Question

What is the difference between verbal and oral?

I know for some words one of them is more common, but in some occations, it seems difficult to choose the right one.

in the following sentence, which one fits the context better.

His written and verbal/oral skills are outstanding.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

hrsaneiin the following sentence, which one fits the context better.
His written and verbal/oral skills are outstanding.

I agree it's hard to formulate a rule that will carry you through this.
I'd use "oral" in the example you cite.

"Oral" always refers to the mouth, so as opposed to "written," it would mean "spoken."

"Verbal" can refer to anything about words in general.

"A verbal agreement" is a common collocation, and we ask, "Did you have a written agreement, or only a verbal agreement?" We can only learn this by experience.

If you went by dictionary definitions, a verbal agreement would be one which used words (written or spoken).
But it would not be incorrect to say, "We only had an oral agreement."

On the other hand, "verbal skills" would not necessarily refer specifically to spoken language.
You could say that someone with good verbal skills is good with words, written or spoken.

If you're arguing a case before the Supreme Court, the written arguments are usually called "briefs," and are submitted to the court prior to the "spoken arguments," which are called "oral arguments." Go figure.

The choice often depends on what has become common practice in a given situation. It takes time to learn these things.

Sorry, I know that's not much help!

Hrsanei · Answer

Thanks Avangi.

As you cited they are mostly used intuitively.

My dictionary provides three meanings for verbal:

1. Spoken rather than written

Ex. Verbal agreement/instructions

2. Related to words or using words

Ex. Verbal abuse

3. relating to a verb

Ex. verbal nouns

and two for the oral

1. Spoken, not written

Ex. oral agrement

2. Relating or involving the mouth

Ex. oral hygine/***/use

other meanings of verbal and oral are quite distinguishable, but as for the first meaning, they seem synonymous but still I cannot justify why we use verbal for agreement and oral for examination

Avangi · Answer

hrsanei but still I cannot justify why we use verbal for agreement and oral for examination

There is no justification - other than that over time, this convention has developed.

It would probably take a lot of research to learn exactly how that happened.

Oral versus verbal

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