What is the difference between “things” and “stuff” in English?
Flavia from Brazil asked us this great question and we are excited to answer it for our listeners!
What you need to know:
- We don’t say “stuffs” with “s”: Stuff is already plural. It means more than one thing. It’s uncountable. We say “You have a lot of stuff” or “There is so much stuff in your trunk.”
- “To stuff”: This can also be used as a verb. It means to fill something with materials. We use “stuffed animal” to describe a soft toy that is filled with cotton. We might also eat “stuffing” at Thanksgiving.
- “Things”: This is countable. We can say “thing” or “things.’ This is sometimes more formal than “stuff.”
Listen to the conversation and role play between Lindsay and Michelle to understand how we use “things” and “stuff” differently in a typical conversation between two new college roommates.
Leave us your questions below.
