Word for make it longer

I think you can «extend a skirt,» but «extend a password» doesn’t sound right. (Actually, I would «make a password longer» rather than «lengthen» it.)

I don’t think we would say «lengthen a road.»

«Extend a skirt» sounds odd to me. I would say «lengthen a skirt» or «let down the hem of a skirt.»

I probably would too. But «extend» might be acceptable in a sentence like «I think we should extend this fabric a little bit.»

I think a skirt could be extended. «Extend this fabric» sounds weird.

I probably would too. But «extend» might be acceptable in a sentence like «I think we should extend this fabric a little bit.»

Agreed.

Speaking as someone who has done a lot of lengthening and shortening of clothes over the years, I wouldn’t talk about «extending» a skirt at all. The skirt, trousers, dress etc. needs lengthening or letting down, as Florentia suggested.

So, extend is not preferable with skirts, I see. But why? I’m working with theory here, so while the criterion of ‘not sounding right’ is important to me, it’s not, well, enough.

I agree with JS; but if you prefer a more ‘technical’ approach, let me try to extend () his explanation a bit, to answer your «why?». English (unlike most other languages) has two major linguistic roots, and a smattering of others. There are therefore many synonyms or near-synonyms. Sometimes one becomes more commonly used than another. Sometimes both (or all) are commonly used, but in different collocations. While the process may not be entirely arbitrary, the social and linguistic factors affecting each such evolution may be complex, and identifying them in any given case would probably require a great deal of research.

In quite a lot of cases, the word of Germanic origin tends to be used in everyday language, whereas the equivalent word of Franco-Latin origin is used in more formal or literary contexts. This can be for historical reasons (the language of the masses vs the language of the Norman aristocracy), or just because the Germanic word is often shorter and simpler.

As JS said, native speakers use a word in a given context because «It sounds right (or wrong)». The reasons for it sounding right or wrong are generally some combination of the factors I’ve mentioned above (and maybe some others). And, of course, because language evolves differently in different regions, socio-professional groups, etc, what sounds right to one person may not sound right to another …

Personally, I find nothing wrong with lengthening a skirt, a password, a road, a list, or a rope. I might extend a password, a road or a list, but I wouldn’t extend a skirt or a rope. That’s based on what sounds right to me; but it’s interesting to note that lengthen is of Germanic origin, and tends to be the everyday word for ‘make longer’, whereas extend is from the Latin word originally meaning stretch out (note velisarius’s comment in post #7).

Ws

I agree with JS; but if you prefer a more ‘technical’ approach, let me try to extend () his explanation a bit, to answer your «why?». English (unlike most other languages) has two major linguistic roots….

I’m sorry I didn’t explain before, but I have MA in English Linguistics, so I sort of already knew all that concern the history and development of English language, but thank you for sharing your knowledge. As a linguist I can also say with certainty that there is no such thing as full synonyms in a language because as soon as two words become fully synonymic, one of them quickly dies out.

So what I’m doing here is conducting a sort of research. My colleague and me are developing an extensive vocabulary for young English learners applying for IELTS, and one of its aspects is length, where I try to demostrate as accurately as possible the typical use of all verbs concerned with length. Some differences are quite transparent, others — obscure. I could inform the pupils that extend and lengthen are synonymous when speaking of length, but so far I’m not sure about that. As Kirusha mentioned, I would like to understand, for example, whether extending a skirt and lengthening a skirt only sound differently or actually mean two different things.

I also saw some people mentioning that they understand extend fabric as stretching it, which is new to me. I always considered extend as lengthen by adding more, not stretching. So… this is confusing.

The verbs obviously overlap. But I would like to see some examples where one verb is definitely preferable over the other.

BTW, when it comes to temporal length rather than spatial length, I believe the difference between verbs is more clear: extend means to move the end of something further in time (thus you can extend a deadline or a contract), while lengthen (as a synonym to prolong in this meaning) means to simply make an event longer, drag it out (thus you can lengthen a conversation or a meeting). There’s a similarity between using them spatially and temporally, but it’s much less transparent when it comes to spatial length.

I’m sorry I didn’t explain before, but I have MA in English Linguistics

Sorry if I was preaching to the converted, JGP, but at least we have a better idea now of what’s behind your question.

As a linguist I can also say with certainty that there is no such thing as full synonyms in a language because as soon as two words become fully synonymic, one of them quickly dies out.

Well, that may be true in some languages, but I don’t see it being so in English. I suppose we could debate what qualifies as «fully synonymic», but I can think of many examples (which I won’t list here, or we’d go wildly off topic) of words that have identical meanings, but that are used in different contexts, or different registers, or different variants of English (AmE vs BrE, for example) — and they’ve existed alongside each other for a very long time, and show no signs of dying out.

As Kirusha mentioned, I would like to understand, for example, whether extending a skirt and lengthening a skirt only sound differently or actually mean two different things.

If you look at the replies from native speakers, above, you’ll see that «extend a skirt» is not idiomatic. If you use that as an example in your teaching document, I’d say you risk misleading the learners. See also …

Could one say that «lengthen a skirt» denotes making it longer by letting down the fabric that is there, as it were, whereas «extend a skirt» denotes adding a new strip of material?

Likewise, «extend a road» could bring into focus the purpose served by it, whereas «lengthen a road» would emphasize properties inherent to it

I wouldn’t say either of those is true, Kirusha. Lengthening a skirt means making it longer, regardless of the means used to achieve that. «Extend a skirt» is not idiomatic. Nothing in the word «extend» (a road, or anything else) relates to the purpose. Nothing in «lengthen» relates to the inherent properties of the thing you’re lengthening (other than the fundamental property that the thing is what it is).

I also saw some people mentioning that they understand extend fabric as stretching it, which is new to me. I always considered extend as lengthen by adding more, not stretching.

If you stood with your arms extended, you wouldn’t have added anything to them! But back to fabric … You can buy jeans made of «stretch fabric»; but a common term used by manufacturers is «extensible fabric». (That’s also a good example of what I said above. As far as I can see, the two words are fully synonymic in this instance.)

But I would like to see some examples where one verb is definitely preferable over the other.

You’ve already had one: lengthen a skirt. Here’s another one: imagine you have a radio with a telescopic aerial — you extend the aerial (make it longer); you wouldn’t usually say you lengthen it. The only reason I can see for using different words there is that one sounds a bit more ‘technical’ than the other. It’s what I said earlier about different collocations.

If you’re trying to find a neat semantic difference between lengthen and extend, I honestly don’t think you’ll find one (see JulianStuart’s #12). Unsatisfying though you may find it, you may just have to accept that collocations just are … because they are. The distinction lies mostly in context and register; but if that’s too complex for your intended readership, you may just have to say that usage varies case by case.

But it’s an interesting question, and if your research does come up with something ‘neater’ than that, do let us know. Good luck.

Ws

Are the following examples non-idiomatic:

They sound OK to me, but none of them is really about lengthening a skirt in the usual sense. The last two, as you say, are about widening, not lengthening. The video is about transforming a pair of shorts into a skirt, not lengthening an existing skirt. The example with the dresses is the closest to a normal ‘lengthening’; but even so it involves adding an entirely different material (lace) as an extension piece, so you end up with a rather different dress, not just the same one lengthened.

With regard to manufacturing a longer aerial, I could see someone saying «Let’s lengthen the aerial» or «Let’s make the aerial longer», but of course that’s not the same context as the one I referred to: pulling the extendable aerial out to its full length.

But your examples do emphasise what I said earlier. The idiomatic use of synonyms or near-synonyms can be very sensitive to small changes in context.

That’s good and true, but, you see, you actually mixed here two different meanings of extend.

I didn’t actually mix anything. You asked for examples of one verb being preferable to another (both having the sense of ‘make longer’), and I gave you an example of ‘extend’ being preferable to ‘lengthen’.

Right now I outline 2 distinctly different meanings of extend when it comes to physical extension (and that’s how they’re presented to pupils):
1: to make something longer by adding more of it: extend a road / a railway / a list / a rope / a commentary
2: to increase length of something that has the ability to extend by itself: in this way you can extend antenna (aerial) / your arm (for a handshake) or something else mechanical, like a folding table.

That’s OK as far as it goes, but it omits two other uses of ‘extend’ (in the sense of physical extension), to which you can easily find references in dictionaries:
— Make something longer, or become longer, by stretching or drawing out (rather than by adding anything). See the various earlier comments about fabric. In fact, rope is also in this category, as well as in your definition 1. A rope may be extended by adding another piece of rope, or it may be extended by the weight of a climber.
— Put forward or outward, or hold out (without increasing the length). Extending your arm for a handshake isn’t valid as an example of your definition 2: you aren’t increasing its length; you’re changing its position.

but the replies sorta prove that they aren’t fully synonymous: extend a road sounds fine, while extend a skirt is something that people don’t seem to like. I could say that extend is typically used with territory (like extend a road), but that’s not true, as extend a rope is just fine.

Doesn’t that emphasise what I (and JS) said earlier? Idiomatic usage varies case by case. I don’t think you’ll find categorical definitions that will cover all (or even a great majority of) cases.

Ws

There is a very similar thread at broaden-vs-widen

My answer remains the same.

You seem to be looking for an absolute law that will allow you to be accurate each time you use either word — that law does not exist.

However, as for the second meaning, I actually believe that extending an arm is a good example. It may be not entirely correct if you dig deep, but for a foreign learned it’s easier to understand that there’s a relation between extending an arm, a muscle or an antenna, they feel these things are connected (as a foreign learner I feel so too). So I think I’ll be explaining these things together.

OK, but in that case I’d recommend that you change the wording of your definition …

2: to increase length of something

… because you don’t have to dig very deeply to see that extending your arm (for a handshake) doesn’t increase its length.

For example, I believe that lengthen a road implies making the way longer, e.g. with detours, while extend a road implies increasing the road’s reach.

I agree that ‘extend a road’ suggests increasing its reach (but that can be achieved only by lengthening it). ‘Lengthen a road’ means making it longer, whether with detours or by extending it in a straight line or by any other means. The two meanings are not discrete.

However, the obscure historical reasons and trends that explain this or that modern use of a word always exist and can usually be uncovered. That is more or less what I’m trying to do here.

I’m sure you’re right. That’s what I said back in post #13 …

While the process may not be entirely arbitrary, the social and linguistic factors affecting each such evolution may be complex, and identifying them in any given case would probably require a great deal of research.

As others have said, I don’t see how you can establish any kind of general rule that will apply to every use of either word. You’d have to research and identify the historical background to each collocation separately. Once you’d finished with skirts, roads, ropes, aerials, arms, etc, you’d have to move on to dozens of other things that can be extended or lengthened. That sounds more like a doctoral thesis than a guide for IELTS candidates (even for the Advanced Version)!

Ws