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How was your hotel? Very bad.
And the restaurant? Very bad.
The weather? Also very bad.
You have given me three reviews, but only onedescription.
It was an efficient description. Efficient,perhaps? Precise, no.
Then what should I say? Awful, dreadful orappalling.
All three sound quite strong. They are.
But they do not always communicate exactly thesame idea.
Welcome to Your English Toolbox and Practice Arena5-Minute English. I am Martin.
And I am Julia. Today we are replacing
very bad with three stronger words. Awful,dreadful and appalling.
Let us begin with awful.
Awful is a common, flexible word for somethingextremely bad or unpleasant.
You can have an awful day. Awful weather.
An awful headache. Or an awful experience.
So I could say, the hotel room was awful. Yes,perhaps it was dirty, uncomfortable or noisy.
Does awful always describe something serious?
Not necessarily. In everyday conversation, weoften use it to express a strong, negative
reaction.
For example, I feel awful about forgetting herbirthday.
Or this coffee tastes awful. That is strong butvery natural.
Now let us look at dreadful. Dreadful also meansextremely bad or unpleasant.
It is especially common in British English. We cansay, the weather was dreadful.
Or, we received some dreadful news.
What is the difference between awful and dreadful?
They often overlap. But dreadful can carry afeeling of suffering,
worry or something difficult to endure. A dreadfuljourney.
A dreadful mistake. A dreadful feeling.
If your train was delayed for five hours and thestation was freezing,
you might describe the journey as dreadful. Thatsounds accurate.
Dreadful can also sound slightly more dramatic ortraditional than awful, depending on the speaker.
03:06
So awful is very broad and conversational.
And dreadful often emphasizes how unpleasant ordistressing the experience felt.
Now we need appalling. Appalling means shockinglybad.
It expresses strong criticism or moraldisapproval.
We often use it for behavior, conditions,treatment, service or standards.
Appalling behavior. Appalling working conditions.
Appalling customer service. Or an appalling lackof preparation.
Could I say the hotel service was appalling?
Yes. If the service was so bad that it shocked orseriously angered you...
Perhaps nobody cleaned the rooms, the staffignored every complaint and the fire exit was
blocked.
That would be appalling.
It is stronger than simply saying the service wasunpleasant.
Exactly. Appalling often contains a judgment.
This should not be acceptable.
Could I describe my coffee as appalling?
Grammatically, yes. But unless it is trulyshocking, awful would sound more natural.
So collocation and context matter.
They always do.
Let us compare the three words.
Awful is a broad, common word for somethingextremely bad or unpleasant.
Dreadful often emphasizes a deeply unpleasant,worrying or difficult experience.
And appalling describes something shockingly bador unacceptable.
Time for a quick challenge.
Choose awful, dreadful or appalling before weanswer.
Situation 1. Your soup tastes extremelyunpleasant.
It tastes awful.
Situation 2.
A long journey included cancelled trains, heavyrain and a lost suitcase.
It was a dreadful journey.
Situation 3.
A company makes employees work in dangerousconditions without protection.
The working conditions are appalling.
Situation 4. You wake up with a very unpleasantheadache.
You have an awful headache.
Now improve this sentence.
The service was very bad.
Was it simply unpleasant?
Then it may have been awful.
Was it a miserable experience from beginning toend?
It may have been dreadful.
Was it shockingly bad and unacceptable?
Then it was appalling.
Quick recap.
Awful, extremely bad or unpleasant?
Dreadful, extremely unpleasant, distressing ordifficult to endure.
06:05
Appalling, shockingly bad or unacceptable?
On the episode page at yourenglishtoolbox.com, youcan use the 7-speed player to listen again
at the rhythm that works best for you.
Slow the difficult examples down, then return tonormal speed when the differences feel clear.
The direct link is in the episode description.
So, Martin, give me your hotel review again.
The room was awful.
Good.
The weather was dreadful.
Much better.
And the way the manager spoke to the staff wasappalling.
Now that is a precise review.
Unfortunately, it is still a terrible holiday.
But it has become an excellent vocabulary lesson.
See you next time, friends.
Goodbye.