Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[worksmart]

Is "Do the dishes" spoken, informal,
and wash the dishes formal writing?

[Lorikeet]

I don't know how "wash the dishes" would be used in a formal situation . I think the use of "wash the dishes" and "do the dishes" is probably based more on regional differences. They sound the same to me.

[Anuradha Chepur]

Incidentally, in today's class, a student of mine asked a similar question. Out here in India, people say, "wash the utensils". My student used this expression, and I told him that he should either say, "do the dishes", or "wash the dishes".

But the gadget is always a dishwasher and not a dishdoer!!!!

[ClarissaMach]

What if we're writting the manual of a washing machine? Would the expression "washing the dishes" be more appropriate than "doing the dishes"?



Clarissa Alves Machado.

[angelwing]

If you were to write a manual, "washing the dishes" should be used. They both mean the same to a native English speaker, but "do the dishes" is more slang. In a normal conversation, it's more up to preference, but if you want to look more formal it would be to "wash the dishes."

Norm
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