WHICH WORD?

Pain - Ache - Sore
UPDATED:  OCT 2021
Learning how to use these three words correctly is difficult.    

Let's take a look at each one and learn how to use them correctly.  

But first, go to the verb "to hurt" then return here.

ACHE

EXAMPLES:

  1. After working all day at the trade fair, my feet ache.

  2. Does your back ache after loading trucks all day?

  3. You had better see the Doctor about that ache you have had in your shoulder for the last month.

PAIN

Usually used with the verb "to have or to feel"

  • stronger than "ache".

  • can come and go

  • You have pain.
    ​
  • Idiom:   Bill is a pain in the neck.  ​
​EXAMPLES

  1. The pain in my knee won't go away.
     
  2. She has a pain in her neck.

  3. The Doctor told me I needed an operation to stop the pain in my back.

  4. Pain is a signal the body gives to indicate a medical or mental problem.

SORE

  • To describe pain in muscles.

  • Sore when you move muscles.

  • Used with the verb "to have".


EXAMPLES:

  1. My legs are sore from my workout at the gym.

  2. I have a sore throat.

  3. Idiom:   Don't get sore at me because you lost money in Las Vegas!


"Sore" is also a noun.