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Relation vs Relationship

Definitions​

  • ‘Relation’ (noun) refers to the way in which two or more people, organizations, countries, etc, are connected.
  • ‘Relationship’ (noun) refers to the way in which two or more things or factors are connected or influencing each other.

What’s the difference between ‘relation’ and ‘relationship’?​

These two words are very similar in meaning, with much overlap in usage. But they have different connotations:

  • ‘Relations’ tends to be more formal, and used when describing interactions between countries or large groups of people (e.g. relations between China and the US, relations between Hispanic and Asian populations).
  • ‘Relationship’ is more versatile and very commonly used when reporting statistical findings in research papers, for instance.

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How they’re used​

Example sentences with ‘relation’

  • This study investigates power relations between Japanese and US governments in the 21st century.
  • Economic relations between EU countries are discussed in Section 2.

Example sentences with ‘relationship’

  • The intimate relationship between language and culture was shown in our survey.
  • No significant relationship was found between cognitive abilities and executive functioning.