[Vocabulary] relation or relationship?

[roseriver1012]

It is widely believed that a good ____________ between the two countries is important for the develpment of...
A. relation B. relationship

Is there a difference between the two words? In this sentence, which of them would you rather use? Thanks!

 

[Rover_KE]

First tell us which you would use and why.

As you know, we don't simply give answers to homework questions.

Rover

 

[roseriver1012]

First tell us which you would use and why.

As you know, we don't simply give answers to homework questions.

Rover

I didn't think there was a difference between the two words until I encountered this question. I looked them up in the dictionary and found it seemed that "relation" can refer to the connection between countries, while "relationship" refers to the one between individuals or groups. So I chose "relation", but the standard answer is "relationship". So what do you think?

 

[Barb_D]

I think "good relations" is the best answer, without "a" but that doesn't seem to be a choice.

 

[roseriver1012]

I think "good relations" is the best answer, without "a" but that doesn't seem to be a choice.

Thanks. But could you tell me why you don't choose to say "good relationships" in this sentence instead? What concerns me is the difference between them in a native speaker's mind.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks. But could you tell me why you don't choose to say "good relationships" in this sentence instead? What concerns me is the difference between them in a native speaker's mind.

Because "relationships" (plural) wouldn't be appropriate after the indefinite article "a".

 

[roseriver1012]

Because "relationships" (plural) wouldn't be appropriate after the indefinite article "a".

:shock:I just want to know the difference between "relation" and "relationship". I certainly know it's not right to say "a relationships"!! :shock:

 

[emsr2d2]

When we talk about how two countries deal with each other, we use a few stock phrases, most of which can be found in newspapers or on the TV/radio news.

For the last few years, the UK and the USA have been said to have a "special relationship". No-one ever really got to the bottom of what that meant (other than that when the USA snaps its fingers, the UK jumps).

In the main, countries are said to have "a good/poor relationship" or "good relations". I am not aware of any particular context where one would be used over the other, but the singular "relation" is rarely used in this context as far as I can recall.