Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Then join Dan, who has a quick and simple lesson about the difference between the words history and story. Give us 60 seconds and we’ll give you the English!
Dan
Hi, I’m Dan from BBC Learning English and today I’m going to tell you the difference between those two confusing words history and story.
So, both words are used for a description of events. So that makes them the same, right? WRONG! They are not the same.
History is the description or study of past events based on fact, often to understand their consequences. ‘Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492.’
A story is the description of a series of real or imagined events, often to entertain people. ‘After arriving in America in 1492, Columbus and his crew were attacked by a giant man-eating T-Rex dinosaur!’ That didn’t happen! It’s just a story.
So… history is the description of past events based on fact and stories are descriptions of real or imagined events, often to entertain.
Leave us a comment below about a piece of history or an imagined story from your culture! We’ll try and guess which is which!
History and Story
history
the description or study of past events based on fact, often to understand their consequences.
- Columbus arrived in America in 1492.
story
a description of series of real or imagined events, often to entertain.
- After arriving in America in 1492, Columbus and his crew were attacked by a giant man-eating T-Rex dinosaur.