As globalization has emerged as a very prominent phenomenon all across the globe, changing residence permanently has become a common practice.
However, when it comes to going or visiting any other country, two terms that tend to confuse people are overseas and foreign.
Key Takeaways
- “Overseas” pertains to places outside one’s home country separated by a body of water, while “foreign” encompasses any location outside one’s home country, regardless of geographic boundaries.
- “Overseas” emphasizes the physical distance or travel involved, whereas “foreign” emphasizes the difference in culture, language, or politics.
- Both terms can describe people, objects, or events originating outside one’s home country, but their nuances differ based on context.
Overseas vs Foreign
Overseas refers to something or someone across a sea or ocean, while foreign refers to something or someone from another country. Overseas is a more specific term that implies a greater distance, while foreign is a more general term that implies something or someone is from another country.
The term overseas is simply used whenever it is referred that a person is using transportation to move from a country to another country, and between those two countries, any sea is situated.
However, it might not be the case always, and this word is mostly used as a metaphor to represent certain other meanings in grammar as well.
But on the other hand, the term foreign is a very common word in English grammar and is used simply to refer movement of a person either permanently or temporarily from his native country to another country all across the globe.
This movement can be to a country that is connected by sea or a country that is not at all connected by sea; hence it is a generalized term.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Overseas | Foreign |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The term represents any other country situated beyond the sea. | The term represents any other country apart from the native country of a person. |
| Refers to | It is simply referred to as specifying the movement of a person from one place to another having sea surrounding the country. | It is simply referred to specify the movement of a person from one country to another. |
| Parts of speech | It is an adverb. | It is a noun. |
| Mostly used in | This term is mostly used in informal grammar. | This term is mostly used in formal grammar to represent any other country apart from the native country. |
| Example | Movement of a person from India to Sri Lanka. | Movement of a person from India to Nepal. |
What is Overseas?
The term overseas is a very common and popular term in English grammar and is used all across the globe by English speakers to refer to a particular meaning respecting the movement of a person from one country to another.
The term can easily be defined, keeping in mind the making of the word in itself. The very reason behind why this word originated in the first place was to specify if a person was moving beyond the sea or was moving simply by using the land.
Overseas refers to a situation when a person is set to move between two countries that are surrounded by sea.
The situation can better be understood by an example, a person moving from India to Sri Lanka can be classified as going overseas as both of these countries share their border with sea.
However, this term is mostly used in informal grammar and is rarely used in formal manners as there are certain synonyms of this particular word that replace it in the formal manner of grammar.
Another very prominent feature of this particular word is the category of parts of speech to which it belongs. This word falls under the category of adverb.
What is Foreign?
The term foreign is another generalized and common term in English grammar is refers to the movement of a person from his native country to another country to which he does not belong.
In the initial days, the term was used to specify a situation where a person moved to another country apart from his native country owing to specific circumstances.
The major reason behind the popularity of this particular word is that somehow it resembles certain words of other languages, referring to a very similar situation.
Apart from this reason, this term is also very popular owing to the reason that it is used in a formal manner by English speakers all across the globe.
Because of being a generalized term, it can simply refer to a situation where a person is moving abroad in either of the ways possible.
Unlike the term overseas, foreign does not depict any particular situation of a person moving through a particular way.
A very common synonym of this particular word is abroad, which is also used widely all across the globe in English grammar to bid depict the similar situation foreign does.
Main Differences Between Overseas and Foreign
- Overseas is a term of English grammar falling under the adverb category of parts of speech, while on the other hand, foreign is another term of English grammar falling under the noun category of parts of speech.
- Overseas is used to represent the movement of a person between two countries having a sea surrounding them while on the other hand foreign is used to represent the movement of a person from one country to another country.
- Overseas is mostly used in an informal manner while foreign is used mostly in a formal manner.
- The movement of a person from India to Sri Lanka can be classified as overseas, while on the other hand, the movement of a person from India to Nepal can be classified as foreign.
- Overseas and Foreign, although being a synonym of one another, differ in the sense that the former depicts movement across the sea while the latter depicts movement across the border.
References
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=unyn2D4Gy4IC&oi=fnd&pg=PA292&dq=foreign+word&ots=LqbUx6-4Zw&sig=IsRYSaapxMWDhTPQHB2KEdbmLGk
- https://search.proquest.com/openview/48d08447c60a1c2fc957b4357a4ced2b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=24597
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