We have received some feedback from students saying that they are struggling with distinguishing the words which have similar meanings. In this series, we are going to look at these words and provide you with detailed explanations of how to use them in your writing.
Today, we are going to talk about consistent, constant and persistent.
1. Consistent means always behaving or happening in a similar way.
It usually emphasizes stable behavior or consistent standards between things, such as consistent performance, consistent support.
The young tennis player has been consistent throughout the championship.
It also means agreeing with something said or done previously, like consistent results, be consistent with.
Still, the results are consistent with the evidence.
2. Constant means staying the same, or not getting less or more
Lately, I’ve been under constant stress and I can’t sleep at night.
3. Persistent can be used to describe a person or a thing that continues to do something without stopping or giving up.
It can be referring to someone who is persistent in doing something; or something lasts for a long time or difficult to get rid of.
He is regarded as a tenacious and persistent interviewer.
There has been persistent rain in this town for several months.
