Top Pages
A-Z glossary
punctuation
A-Z confused words
common mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) Top Tip
Get a grammar checker
for your browser vocabulary for learners tests and games awkward plurals sayings and proverbs tattoo fails our Twitter page our YouTube channel
(ordered by seriousness) Top Tip
Get a grammar checker
for your browser vocabulary for learners tests and games awkward plurals sayings and proverbs tattoo fails our Twitter page our YouTube channel
Touch or Feel?
Search...
The Difference between "Touch" and "Feel"
"Touch" and "feel" are easy to confuse, especially for English learners.- "Touch" means to come in contact physically with something. For example:
- If you touch the wire, you lose.
- "Feel" means to touch something to learn about it. For example:
- Feel the shark's skin. It is rougher than it looks.
Got it? Take a quick test.More about "Touch" and "Feel"
"Touch" and "feel" have similar meanings, but there is a subtle difference between them.Touch
The verb "to touch" means to make physical contact with something (usually with the hand or finger).Example sentences with "touch":
- The paint is wet. Do not touch it.
- For a moment, our fingers touched.
(In these two examples, "touch" means to make physical contact. This is the most common meaning of "to touch.")
- Your painting touched me.
(Here, "touch" means to invoke a feeling of emotion.)
Feel
The verb "to feel" means to be aware of something (or to learn about something) by touching it. It also means to experience an emotion or sensation.Example sentences with "feel":
- Feel the softness of this material.
(Here, "to feel" means to learn about something by touching it.)
- I feel excited for the holiday.
(Here, "to feel" means to experience an emotion.)
Even More about "Touch" and "Feel"
Here, for completeness, are all five forms of the verb "to touch":| No. | Verb Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base Form | touch |
| 2 | The -S Form (also called the Third Person Singular Present Tense Form) | touches |
| 3 | Past Form | touched |
| 4 | The -ING Form (also called the Present Participle Form) | touching |
| 5 | The Past Participle Form | touched |
| No. | Verb Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base Form | feel |
| 2 | The -S Form (also called the Third Person Singular Present Tense Form) | feels |
| 3 | Past Form | felt |
| 4 | The -ING Form (also called the Present Participle Form) | feeling |
| 5 | The Past Participle Form | felt |
Ready for the Test?
Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson.This test can also be:
- Edited (i.e., you can delete questions and play with the order of the questions).
- Printed to create a handout.
- Sent electronically to friends or students.
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?