what is the difference between travel and trip?

[MiuMia]

Business Idiom in English, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #129 "Ways of greeting", question 10

Here you are at last! I hope your ......... here wasn't too horrible.

(a) travel
(b) journey
(c) trip
(d) voyage

Business Idiom in English, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #129 "Ways of greeting", answer 10

Here you are at last! I hope your journey here wasn't too horrible.

Correct answer: (b) journey

Your answer was: incorrect
Here you are at last! I hope your trip here wasn't too horrible.
_________________________

what is the difference between travel and trip?

MiuMia

[Stew.t.]

Travel is a verb, where as trip being a noun suggests a single time you travel.

cheers stew.t.
_________________
Please meet Stewart Tunncilff

[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Stew

Are you absolutely sure that travel can serve only as a verb?!
travel agency
A dog of high travel will drive sheep hither and thither

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What is the main difference between journey and trip which impedes us to use trip here?
Is it because journey might be a one-way trip, whereas trip always involves there-and-back journey?

[Yankee]

.
Good question, Alex.

The word travel would be the most likely word to exclude in the sentence since the noun travel is more general (i.e. travel might involve going from point A to point B to point C to point D, etc.)

But I really don't see why trip or even voyage should be considered incorrect here.
.

[Stew.t.]

Hi Lost soul and Yankee,

I agree travel can be used as a noun in combination with other words, also traveling and in the example yankee gave I guess you could use travel or traveling or even commuting, and they all function as nouns.

We more frequently use travel as a verb, as a noun to me it can sound awkward and is not that frequently used. But I would not discount it?s possible use.

I also agree that the trip and voyage could be used in the test example. Maybe some tests should be tagged (described) as frequent or appropriate usage.

What do you think Torsten?
The tests could be categorized as grammar checks, general and frequent, formal, informal or even business usage?

thks for your contributions.

cheers stew.t.
_________________
Please meet Stewart Tunncilff

[Yankee]

Hi Stew

I suspect, that the word journey may be used more frequently in BE than in AmE. My American ear has no problem whatsoever with the word trip as a solution to the test question.

As to the word travel being awkward as a noun, I really can't agree with that. I would agree, though, that it is used more fequently as a verb. It simply depends on the context -- and as you mentioned in your first post, travel is a more general term. It can be used to refer collectively to many journeys (or trips or voyages), for example.
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