Meaning
- Discern means to recognize, notice, or understand something clearly, often something that is not obvious or easy to see.
- It suggests the ability to distinguish or detect fine details.
Grammar and Usage
- Part of speech: Verb
- Transitive (takes an object): "discern something"
- Intransitive (less common): "discern between things"
Typical sentence structures:
- discern + object (e.g., discern a difference, discern the truth)
- discern between A and B (to recognize the difference between two things)
Common Phrases
- discern the difference
- discern the truth
- discern patterns
- discern between right and wrong
- difficult to discern
Collocations
- verbs + discern: can discern, able to discern, fail to discern
- adjectives + discern: clearly discern, barely discern, hardly discern
- nouns + discern: discern the truth, discern meaning, discern details, discern intentions
Examples
- From a distance, it was hard to discern the figure in the fog.
- She could discern a note of sadness in his voice.
- It takes experience to discern the subtle differences between these wines.
- The detective quickly discerned the inconsistencies in his testimony.
- I could barely discern the writing on the old document.
- He failed to discern the potential risks of the project.
- We must discern between genuine needs and unnecessary desires.
- The teacher could easily discern which students had prepared.
Synonyms or Related
- detect
- distinguish
- perceive
- recognize
- identify
- differentiate