Teen vs. Tween

2023-07-15

00:00 / 00:00
复读宝 RABC v8.0beta 复读机按钮使用说明
播放/暂停
停止
播放时:倒退3秒/复读时:回退AB段
播放时:快进3秒/复读时:前进AB段
拖动:改变速度/点击:恢复正常速度1.0
拖动改变复读暂停时间
点击:复读最近5秒/拖动:改变复读次数
设置A点
设置B点
取消复读并清除AB点
播放一行
停止播放
后退一行
前进一行
复读一行
复读多行
变速复读一行
变速复读多行
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1
  • Hi there. This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about the difference between "teen" and "tween."
    • 2
  • Hello VOA Learning English,
    • 3
  • I am Abdirohim from Somalia. Could you kindly explain and further explore the differences and usage between these two words: "tweens" and "teens?''
    • 4
  • Thanks,
    • 5
  • Abdirohim
    • 6
  • Thanks for you for this interesting question, Abdirohim! Both words refer to very young people.
    • 7
  • There are major differences in the ages of these two groups.
    • 8
  • Let's look not only at the meanings of these two words but also how they were made. Let's start with "teen."
    • 9
  • The word "teen" is a noun that means a young person from ages thirteen to nineteen.
    • 10
  • We get this word from the ending of the numbers, like thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and so on.
    • 11
  • Many teens enjoy hanging out with their friends.
    • 12
  • When he was a teen, he loved the Beatles music.
    • 13
  • We combine "teen" with "age" to make "teenage," an adjective that describes someone who is in their teens.
    • 14
  • The movie "Mean Girls" is about a group of teenage girls in high school.
    • 15
  • We can also add an "-er" ending to "teenage" to make another noun with the same meaning as "teen."
    • 16
  • Some teenagers like to go against their parents.
    • 17
  • Now, let's move on to "tween."
    • 18
  • The word "tween" is a blend of the two words "teen" and "between."
    • 19
  • It is a special blend word since it combines not only the spellings of the two words but the meanings as well.
    • 20
  • The word is used to describe the age group between a child and a teenager.
    • 21
  • The earliest age for "tweens" is eight or nine years old, and the oldest age goes up to twelve.
    • 22
  • Many tweens go to a middle school after completing elementary and before going to high school.
    • 23
  • Maria looks after tweens who are not old enough to be by themselves.
    • 24
  • We also call this group of young people "preteens," with the prefix "pre" to mean "before."
    • 25
  • A fun fact about the history of "tween" is that it may have come from JRR Tolkien who wrote The Lord of the Ring books.
    • 26
  • Some say he came up with "tween" to describe an in-between age for his characters called "hobbits."
    • 27
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Abdirohim.
    • 28
  • Do you know any other blend words in English or have a question about them? You can send these and other questions you have about American English to our email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
    • 29
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
    • 30
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.