#7 (ENG) "Destroy and Ruin"

CLAIRSTONE VOCABULARY PODCAST

Welcome to Clairstone! In this episode, you will learn how to use the English words "destroy" and "ruin".
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello everyone, my name is Jasmine, and you are listening to the English ClAIRSTONE Podcast, where you can build the cornerstone of your English vocabulary! For all our new listeners, welcome to the community, and for our regulars, hello again! Before we start, I will remind you that we upload new episodes twice a week and there are transcripts for each podcast episode in English, Arabic, and Spanish at our website projectclair.org, so go check that out if you want to follow along!
Today we will look at the words “destroy” and “ruin.”
The word “destroy,” spelled D-E-S-T-R-O-Y, is a verb. To destroy, is to damage something beyond repair or use, meaning it cannot be fixed. The word “destroy” can be used in both a physical and emotional way. To destroy something physically is to damage it in a way that damage can be seen by looking at the thing. To destroy something or someone emotionally, means to hurt them so badly that they feel damaged beyond repair. Example sentences of both these uses are: “During the fight, the men destroyed the chair in the room,” and the sentence, “The breakup with her partner destroyed her.”
Next, the word “ruin,” spelled R-U-I-N, can be both a noun and verb. As a noun, a ruin is the state of something (it can be a place or thing) that is damaged or destroyed. A ruin is often beginning to decay, or rot and is usually dirty and broken. An example of the noun “ruin” is: “The city of Pompeii is a ruin of ash.”
“Ruin” as a verb, means to damage something to a state of decay or destruction. To use the previous word, to ruin something means to destroy it. An example of “ruin” as a verb is: “Last night, I was in the dark and accidentally ruined my project for this class!”
The verbs “ruin” and “destroy” are very similar in meaning, but the difference is that to “ruin” something means to put it in a state of decay or collapse, whereas to “destroy” something is to badly damage it.
Well, that is it for today’s episode! This was the Clairstone Podcast, and for the full transcript for all our episodes, go to our website projectclair.org. I hope you will start to use the words “destroy” and “ruin” in your English practice, and I will see you next time! Bye everyone!