今朝、スタッフから、「秋山さんは、このあいだpersuadeを使っていたのに、なんで今日は、convinceって使ってるんですか？」と聞かれて、「あれ？　なんでだろう？」と思ったので、今日は、説得するという意味のconvinceとpersuadeの違いについて書きます。

自分の中では、感情的に説得する場合は、persuadeを、データなど論理的に説得する場合は、convinceを使っていたのですが、ホントのところどうなんだろう？とそばにいた、アメリカ人の国語の先生をやっている友人に聞いてら、「私はあまり使い分けてないかも？？」という返答がかえってきたので、辞書をいろいろとチェックしてみました。

convince

verb (used with object), convinced, convincing.

1.

to move by argument or evidence to belief, agreement, consent, or a course of action:

to convince a jury of his guilt; A test drive will convince you that this car handles well.

2.

to persuade; cajole:

We finally convinced them to have dinner with us.

3.

Obsolete. to prove or find guilty.　

 

4.　Obsolete. to overcome; vanquish.

 

Usage note

 

Convince, an often stated rule says, may be followed only by that or of, never by to: We convinced him that he should enter (not convinced him to enter) the contest. He was convinced of the wisdom of entering. In examples to support the rule, convince is often contrasted with persuade, which may take to, of, or that followed by the appropriate construction: We persuaded him to seek counseling(or of his need for counseling or that he should seek counseling). The history of usage does not support the rule. Convince (someone) to has been in use since the 16th century and, despite objections by some, occurs freely today in all varieties of speech and writing and is fully standard: Members of the cabinet are trying to convince the prime minister not to resign.

 

 

persuade

 

verb (used with object), persuaded, persuading.

 

1.

to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging:

We could not persuade him to wait.

 

2.　to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince:　to persuade the judge of the prisoner’s innocence.

 

Synonyms　

 

1. urge, influence, move, entice, impel. Persuade, induce imply influencing someone’s thoughts or actions. They are used today mainly in the sense of winning over a person to a certain course of action: It was I who persuaded him to call a doctor. I induced him to do

 

出典：　Dictionary.com