What’s the difference between salute and greet?

This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: salute and greet.

salute

function playAudio(url) { new Audio(url).play(); }

When members of the armed forces salute someone, they raise their right hand as a formal sign of greeting or respect.

The men saluted the General.

greet

function playAudio(url) { new Audio(url).play(); }

Use greet rather than ‘salute’ to say that someone says or does something to express friendliness when they meet someone else.

He greeted his mother with a hug.

He hurried to greet his guests.


Find out more in our English Usage article.

This blogpost is based on Collins COBUILD English Usage, written for learners of English. For more examples of English usage points, please visit:  https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/english-usage.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.

Other Articles

Reported speech

When you use reported speech, the words put into the reported clause do not exactly match the words spoken. ‘I’ll leave at 8.30 on Friday.’ à She says that she will leave at 8.30 on Friday. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you.’ à She says she’s looking forward to seeing us. Pronouns and possessive… Read More

Indirect speech

Indirect speech or reported speech reports something that was said, but does not use the actual words that the speaker uttered. Lynn asked whether Pippa had been to the new shopping mall. Pippa replied that she hadn’t, but she had heard that there were some really cool shops there. Reported speech always has two clauses. The words… Read More

Direct speech

Direct speech gives the actual words that a speaker has used. It is common in novels and other writing where the actual words of a speaker are quoted. The reporting verb may come before the words that were actually spoken, or after them, or at a natural pause inside the reported sentence. Read More