perspective

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A particular way of understanding something, shaped by your experience and position.

   Grammar: Takes a, the or a possessive: from my perspective, a new perspective.

   Patterns

   • from someone's perspective
   • a perspective on something
   • from a ... perspective

   From a parent's perspective, the school rules seem sensible.

   Living abroad gave her a new perspective on her own country.

   It is useful to see the problem from the customer's perspective.

2. 2noununcountable

   A sensible, balanced sense of how important something really is compared with other things.

   Grammar: Often follows keep, put or gain: keep things in perspective.

   Patterns

   • keep something in perspective
   • put something into perspective
   • lose perspective

   Missing one bus is annoying, but let us keep it in perspective.

   The visit to the hospital put her own worries into perspective.

   After a stressful week he lost all perspective.

3. 3noununcountabletechnical

   A drawing technique that shows objects with depth and distance, making far things look smaller.

   Grammar: Used in art and design: draw in perspective.

   Patterns

   • draw something in perspective
   • a sense of perspective

   The painter used perspective so the road seemed to stretch into the distance.

   Beginners often find perspective hard when they draw buildings.

   The flat picture had no perspective at all.

Word forms

Common combinations

gain a new perspective

Travel helps you gain a new perspective on life.

keep things in perspective

Try to keep things in perspective when you feel stressed.

a different perspective

She offered a different perspective on the debate.

historical perspective

The book places the war in historical perspective.

from a ... perspective

From a financial perspective, the plan makes sense.

Synonyms and how they differ

viewpoint

Viewpoint is nearly the same but stresses the position someone argues from, rather than the wider outlook.

outlook

Outlook describes a general attitude to life, whereas perspective is tied to a particular topic or position.

standpoint

Standpoint is a little more formal and is mostly used in phrases like from the standpoint of.

angle

Angle is informal and suggests one chosen way of approaching a story or problem.

Word family

perspectival adjective

relating to perspective, used in art and philosophy

perspectives noun

different ways of seeing a matter

prospective adjective

likely to happen or be in the future

Commonly confused: perspective or prospective? perspective or perspicacity?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “perspective”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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