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Sandy Ho Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary

Subside

Hi,there.

The foundation is subsiding.

I thought it is a right sentence.

But once I heard someone said :

" The foundation is giving".

I look it up in dictionary ,and 'give' does have a meaning of "breaks or moves away suddenly".

I was just wondering is this common?

and, what a native speaker would say in this situation?

Thank you!
  

Top answer

'Giving' or 'giving way' is common if it is a rapid development ('suddenly'). 'Subsiding' is very slow.

— Mister Micawber

  • 'Giving' or 'giving way' is common if it is a rapid development ('suddenly').
  • 'Subsiding' is very slow.
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4 Answers
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'Giving' or 'giving way' is common if it is a rapid development ('suddenly'). 'Subsiding' is very slow.
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Sandy HoBut once I heard someone said :
" The foundation is giving".
"Give" has many meanings. If the context was " The foundation is giving", it is very possible that the word was "subsidizing", instead of "subsiding".
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Are you joking, Dimsum? Ah, no-- I get it: a different sort of foundation, eh?
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Thank you both,here we're talking about a building.

I learned a new word 'subsidize' today .that was a windfall for me.
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