Meaning & use
separate and distinct
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Meanings
phrasefixed phraseformallegal
Used to stress that two things are genuinely different from each other and should not be treated as one.
Grammar: Comes after a noun or linking verb: the two duties are separate and distinct.
Patterns
- something is separate and distinct
- separate and distinct from something
- two separate and distinct things
The court held that the two claims were separate and distinct and had to be tried on their own.
Your private life and your work are separate and distinct, so keep them apart.
The report treats fraud and simple error as separate and distinct problems.
phrasebefore a nounformal
Used to describe two or more items that are each clearly individual, not joined or overlapping.
Grammar: Often placed before a plural noun: two separate and distinct accounts.
Patterns
- separate and distinct parts
- separate and distinct categories
- separate and distinct accounts
The building is divided into three separate and distinct areas, each with its own entrance.
The study lists four separate and distinct causes of the decline.
Keep the money for the trip in a separate and distinct account from your everyday savings.
Common combinations
- separate and distinct from something
- The new rule is separate and distinct from the older one.
- two separate and distinct things
- The lawyer described them as two separate and distinct offences.
- separate and distinct legal personality
- A company has a separate and distinct legal personality.
- remain separate and distinct
- The two traditions remain separate and distinct to this day.
- treated as separate and distinct
- For tax purposes they are treated as separate and distinct.
Synonyms and how they differ
- distinct
- Distinct alone means clearly different; the full phrase adds extra emphasis that the things are also not connected.
- separate
- Separate alone means not joined; on its own it does not always suggest that the items are different in kind.
- discrete
- Discrete is a more technical word for items that are individually separate, often used in math and science.
Opposites
Word family
- separately adverb
- In a way that is not together with others.
- separation noun
- The act of moving things apart or the state of being apart.
- distinction noun
- A clear difference between two similar things.
- distinctly adverb
- In a clear and noticeable way.
Commonly confused: separate and distinct or separately? separate and distinct or distinctive?
separate and distinct vs separately
Separately is an adverb meaning 'not together'; separate and distinct is an adjective phrase describing things that are different from each other.
separate and distinct vs distinctive
Distinctive means easy to recognize because of a special feature, not simply different from something else.
Practice
The judge said the two contracts were ______ and had to be read on their own.
Choose one answer.
The phrase follows the linking verb 'were' and describes the contracts, so the adjective phrase 'separate and distinct' fits. 'Separately and distinctly' are adverbs, which would describe how something is done, not what the contracts are.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “separate and distinct”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.