ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?

CalifJim — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:09:55 GMT

Belly
What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?

Have you tried a dictionary? These words have multiple definitions, so it's hard to understand what your question is. Which of these multiple definitions are you trying to disambiguate?

If you are wondering about how to use these words with respect to people, then:

Personality is the "surface" of a person's behavior; it's what you notice first about how they act.

Susan has a/an [great / pleasant / outgoing / easygoing / magnetic / winning] personality. (She always knows the right thing to say at the right time. She always makes other people feel comfortable. She has a good sense of humor.)

Character is more "interior"; it's the sum of a person's "character traits", such as honesty (or dishonesty), promptness (or tardiness), courage (or cowardice), kindness (or cruelty), energetic (or lazy), and so on. You can talk about a good or strong character (honest, courageous, kind) or a weak character (dishonest, cowardly, cruel). Difficult situations which face us are said to "build character".

Nature is "interior", like character, and the two terms are sometimes interchangeable. Jane has a motherly nature/character.

The words character and nature are often used in contexts not related to people. These all answer questions like How? In what manner? or What kind?

The statement was concessional in [nature / character]. The boss's tone was [adversarial / congratulatory] in [nature / character]. The conversation was [confidential / secretive] in [nature / character].

of a/an ... nature is also commonly used:

The story was of an allegorical nature. The usual reaction in these cases is of a defensive nature. The president's remarks were of a general nature. The symptoms of this disease are usually of a transitory nature.

Re: What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?

Mr Wordy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:14:38 GMT

Belly
So your explanation is a little fuzzy to me.

Any explanation will be fuzzy because the meanings of the words overlap considerably. You will not find a precise rule that tells you which word to use in any possible situation. Moreover, different people probably have slightly different perceptions of the nuances that separate them (and explaining those nuances is much more difficult than perceiving them!).

John, as anybody else, has at heart ~~he is~~ a kind (nature/character). But he lives in ~~the~~ an environment where evil is everywhere, ~~then~~ so he has a bad, hot personality.

This is a very reasonable interpretation of what I wrote, but, for me, the distinction is not as black-and-white as this juxtaposition implies. In fact, it's so much shades-of-grey that, unfortunately, I can't at the moment think of a good sentence to illustrate it.

Re: What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?

Belly — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:14:17 GMT

We don't use that much in our language. So your explanation is a little fuzzy to me.
So, let me put this after reading your post:
John, as anybody else,at heart he is kind (nature/ character). But he lives in the environment where evil is everywhere, then he has a bad, hot personality.
I wonder if my interpretation is right

Re: What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?

Mr Wordy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:09:28 GMT

It's a tricky one to pin down. Some random thoughts...

On a scale of "most outwardly visible" to "deepest", I would order them:

personality, character, nature

And on a scale of "most likely to be used in relation to people" to "can be used for anything", again:

personality, character, nature

"Character", perhaps more than the others, can refer to the moral aspects of how one conducts oneself in one's affairs, or to one's reputation. "He is of good character" means that he's honest, hard-working, etc. -- generally an upstanding citizen.

What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?

Belly — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:02:50 GMT

What are the differences between Personality vs character vs Nature?