What's the difference between the word"store"and "shop"?

Used as nouns they mean the same thing.

Yes, they mean the same thing when used as nouns. However, the two words have different connotations.

"I'm going down to the store." = To me, this implies that the speaker is going to the grocery store.

"I'm going down to the shop." = This implies that the speaker is going to a smaller store that may or may not sell foods.

I'm from the U.S., so I don't know if thi

Generally in England (I cannot speak for the rest of the UK) we only use the word "store" in the phrase "department store". "I am going to the store" would suggest you are going to a place which is not a shop but simply a place where things are stored.

In my district, we like to go shopping in Ho chi Minh city. It's very insteresting. But we don't store wood today because we can exploit petrol.Gas and petrol are cheaper and cheaper nowadays. So I can add a little about the differenceof shop and store used as verb from two these examples.

Phuong Ninh

Hi,

I was interested by Erin's comments because I have another opinion. I would have said that, at least in my experience in North America, 'store' is very much the common term and 'shop' is seldom used.

Best wishes, Clive

Erin ZaleYes, they mean the same thing when used as nouns. However, the two words have different connotations.

"I'm going down to the store." = To me, this implies that the speaker is going to the grocery store.

"I'm going down to the shop." = This implies that the speaker is going to a smaller store that may or may not sell foods.

I'm from the

In English language, no two words are exactly the same. True, they can have similar basic definitions. But how they are used is different.

For example, 'shop' can frequently used as a verb as in 'I like to shop at the mall.' But when 'store' is used as a verb, it means to keep something at a safe place. Also, 'store' most often is used to mean the 'grocery store' but here in the U.S.

Here in New Zealand we use both to mean a place where one shops. It's hard to suggest a rule that clearly distinguishes between why one may be preferred to the other in all situations. We would, for example talk about a "department store" but on the other hand an "Op shop" (for the rhyme, presumably). I would say that "store" is often used for the larger "shops" but there are exceptions to this t

This is only tangential info:

"Talk shop" means talk about work/business, while there is no "talk store".

Generally, "store" would be the normal American usage, and "shop/shops" would be the normal British usage when you are referring to a grocery shop or supermarket where you buy food and other things (such as Tesco, Safeway, Wal-Mart, etc). However, in Britain most people use the plural "to the shops" or "down the shops", whereas Americans tend to use the singular "at the store".

Of cour