Leave e abandon

“To leave” and “to abandon”: differences and uses of the verbs

The verbs “to leave” and “to abandon” can be used as synonyms of the verb “go away from…” but we can also underline some differences of the use of “to leave” which has other meanings and uses
In particular, the verb “To leave” can be used when:
- You are going away from a place, from a town.
Examples:
- Sasha leaves the town in order to go to study at University of Toronto.
- Anne left her wonderful house because she decided to move to London.
- John leaves the city where he was born.
- You quit something or someone for ever (a relationship, an occupation or a job) or when you abandon a certain condition.
Examples:
- Mark leaves Anne forever, she is very sad now.
- John decided to leave the job because it did not satisfy him enough.
- Catherine left her job last year, now she is a painter.
- You allow a person to do something or when you let a thing in a certain way.
Examples:
- Silvia sometimes leaves John cooking although he is not a good cooker.
- My mother leaves me the car so I can practice more.

We can finally understand that while “to abandon” is particularly used as a synonym of “to go away from…”, the verb “to leave” has many other uses and connotations, so it can be used also in other contexts.