Someday I'm going to master this language....

[Warren Smith]

As is often the case, today's question relates to English, not Japanese.

 

Does anybody have a good rule for selecting between "electric" and "electrical"?

 

  electric device vs. electrical device

  electric circuit vs. electrical circuit

  electric wiring vs. electrical wiring

  electric design vs. electrical design

 

I find myself being inconsistent in my usage. Can anybody help me improve my English on this one?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Warren Smith

------------------------------------

Dr. Warren Smith

JETS: Japanese-English Technology Services

27 Sandybrook Dr.

Durham, NH 03824 USA

Warren...@Comcast.net

603-674-2227

 

[Warren Smith]

Another example in today's document:

 

electric energy vs. electrical energy....

 

Warren

---

[David J. Littleboy]

>From: Warren Smith

>Does anybody have a good rule for selecting between "electric" and
>"electrical"?

This covers it reasonably well.

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/31649/what-is-the-difference-between-electric-and-electrical-and-their-usage

Of course, unless one is careful, "electric" may evoke thoughts of LSD.

So I guess the rule is "Use "electrical" unless it's a Japanese company
name."

--
David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

[Alan Siegrist]

Just as a quick guide, I believe that “electric” as an adjective refers mostly to the physical phenomenon, hence “electric field,” “electric power” etc. In contrast, the adjective “electrical” refers to the practical application of electricity and electronics to the real world, so we say “electrical engineering” and such. It is the National Electrical Code (NEC) not the “electric code.” You are an electrical engineer, right? Not an electric engineer.

 

On this basis, we should use the latter “electrical” for all of the examples you provide.

 

Best,

 

Alan Siegrist

Orinda, CA, USA

[Mark Spahn]

Well, in deciding between two alternative wordings, googlefight.com allows you stage a "google fight" between the two alternatives.

http://www.googlefight.com/electric+circuit-vs-electrical+circuit.php

gives "electric circuit" the edge, with a "Google visibility" score of 100, as compared to 67 for "electrical circuit".

The only formal distinction I know of between an -ic word and its corresponding -ical version is explained at

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/historic-versus-historical

Bottom line:  Use whichever version sounds more familiar to you (if you're a native speaker, you have an advantage).  Just go ahead with whichever sounds better to you, and worry no further about it.

-- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)

[Alan Siegrist]

The site mentioned in David Littleboy’s post reminded me of an exception to this rule. This is the exception that the adjective “electric” has another specific use, namely that of distinguishing things that run on electricity from those that run on other power sources, such as “electric vehicles” (not electrical vehicles, as distinguished from gasoline-powered vehicles) and “electric trains” (as opposed to steam trains). So an “electric engineer” would be absurd in this sense since engineers do not run on electricity.

 

Best,

 

Alan Siegrist

Orinda, CA, USA

 

[Herman]

On 06/09/16 06:39, Warren Smith wrote:
> As is often the case, today's question relates to English, not Japanese.
>
> Does anybody have a good rule for selecting between "electric" and
> "electrical"?

Not a strict rule, but anyhow:
Use electric for 電動 and electrical for 電気.


Herman Kahn

[Warren Smith]

Thank you, all, for your help on this one.

I think I need to get out more, and talk with people to spend as much time
reading/listening to English as I do Japanese. (The problem is, after a long
work day reading Japanese, I find myself not inclined to want to read much
in English when I am done.)

I appreciate your grounding when my language starts to drift. (What a great
bunch of colleagues!)

Warren