A constructive style of enquiry from the learner would be: 1. I have looked up the two words. I have studied the definitions and the examples carefully. 2. I now understand their differences in the following examples. (list examples) 3. i now understand that they could have similar meanings in these circumstances. (list examples) 4. I am, however, confused about these examples. I now quote them here. Could you please help me to understand and differentiate between them?

My advice is: learn English in context. Do not learn English by learning isolated words from a word list. Follow a structured course with a structured textbook where everything is presented in context. A question like this is a symptom which requires a diagnosis and a prescription rather than a direct comparison between the two words. The comparison is easily available, with good examples, in a good dictionary. It is the learning method that is the issue here. So we help by pointing out a correct method.

Wow - a difficult one to answer succinctly! Sometimes they can be synonymous and sometimes only one or the other is right in a particular context. It might need an article to explain it fully enough but perhaps someone else could give a brief and accurate explanation of the differences. If they don't, my suggestion is to try out using the words in specific situations (not "positions"!) and post your text for correction or answers. Good luck, Michael