Christanford  +  833292 Sat, 25 Jul 09 06:04 PM Hi, I am aware that there are quite a few posts about these two words on this forum, but after perusing them I still don't think I fully understand the difference. Could anyone please provide me with some examples where 'relation' and 'relationship' are not interchangeable? I've abstraced 3 pairs of examples from my dictionary. Please help me pick out one that is stylistically preferable from each pair : the relationship between poor housing and health problems the relation between prices and wages The lessons bear little relationship (=they are not connected) to the children's actual needs. The price the meat is sold for bears no relation to (=is not connected to) the price the farmer receives What relation are you to Jessica? 'What's your relationship to Sue?' 'She's my cousin.' Understanding the nuances of synonyms gives me a headache. Thanks in advance Christanford Joined on Sat, Apr 7 2007 Full Member 295 Synonyms, Relationships

	Vorpar  +  833348 Sat, 25 Jul 09 06:51 PM Not that I can enumerate why, but my preferences are: 1. relationship 2. relation 3. relation Relationship can describe the person someone is dating. Relation wouldn't be used in that context. Vorpar Joined on Tue, Sep 20 2005 Santa Barbara, CA Regular Member 940 Context, Relationships