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Victim vs Casualty
Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about the difference between the words, “victim” and “casualty.”
Question:
Dear teacher,
I am Mayer from Colombia. I hope you are well.
I would like to ask you about the difference between the words, “casualty” and “victim.”
Thanks,
Mayer
Answer:
Thank you, Mayer, for this question. Both “casualty” and “victim” are nouns. They have similar meanings and usually describe people who have suffered in some way. Let’s look closer at each word.
Victim
A “victim” is someone who has been hurt or even killed because of a crime or natural disaster.
Rescuers gave shelter to the flood victims.
FILE - Flood affected people receive relief material at Companygonj in Sylhet, Bangladesh, Monday, June 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
We often use the preposition “of” after the word, followed by what happened.
She was a victim of a robbery.
“Victim” can also mean someone who has suffered because of someone else’s actions.
The TV show was an interview with victims of religious abuse.
Also, a victim does not always have to be a person.
The school’s theater and music programs were the main victims of budget cuts.
FILE - Grayson Hart and cast member Evan Roberts, 11, rehearse a song at the Ned R. McWherter West Tennessee Cultural Arts Center in Jackson, Tenn., on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)
Let’s move on to “casualty.”
Casualty
Like “victim,” “casualty” means someone who has been hurt or killed, but the difference is in the cause. If that person has been harmed in a war or accident, then they are a “casualty.”
The implosion of the Titan submarine resulted in five casualties.
We also use “casualty” with the preposition “of” to say that someone suffered because of a situation or an event.
The four children were the only surviving casualties of the plane crash in the Amazon rainforest.
And, like the word victim, a casualty can be something other than a person.
My succulent plant became a casualty of overwatering.
This July 7, 2019 photo shows small concrete planters in Strafford, N.H. Concrete planters can provide an industrial or rustic home for succulents and other small plants, and they're inexpensive and fairly easy to make. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
The easiest way to remember which word to use is to understand the situation that harmed the person. If the incident you are talking about was a natural disaster or a crime, the word “victim” is most often used. If you are describing the damage of a war or accident, use “casualty.”
Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Mayer.
What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
And that’s Ask a Teacher.
I’m Faith Pirlo.
Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
implosion – n. a collapse inward or a crushing effect
succulents – n. plants with thick, heavy leaves or stems that store water
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