VOA名师答疑2023--Mandatory, Compulsory and Obligatory

Mandatory¹, Compulsory² and Obligatory³

Hi there! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about the difference between "mandatory," "compulsory," and "obligatory."

Question:

Hello. My name is Nelson, and I'm from Nicaragua.

Can you help me to understand the difference between "compulsory," "mandatory" and "obligatory?"

Thank you in advance,

Nelson.

Answer

This is a great question, Nelson. These three adjectives have the same meaning, so they are synonyms⁴. They share a basic definition of "required." But there are some slight differences in how often we use each. Let's start with the most common, "mandatory."

Mandatory

Mandatory comes from the word "mandate⁵," which means to give authority to act or as a noun means an official order. Something that is "mandatory" is the result of that action or order. It usually comes from a law or rule.

This is the most common of the three words in question because it is often used in everyday conversations. We use it to describe something that is required by a mandate, law, or rule.

In most public high schools, there is mandatory testing every year.

Seatbelts are mandatory in the U.S. If you do not wear a seatbelt, you are breaking the law.

Compulsory

"Compulsory" is the second most common adjective out of the three, so it is used less often than "mandatory. It also means required by law. We often use it to describe education and military service.

Many countries in the world have compulsory military service like Ukraine, South Korea, and Egypt.

Massachusetts became the first place in the United States to have compulsory schooling⁶ for children in the year 1642.

Obligatory

The least common adjective is "obligatory," but it is the most formal of the three. It means the same as "mandatory" and "compulsory," but also has other meanings.

We use "obligatory" not just for laws or rules, but we use it to describe obligations that are based on moral or social instances.

Social media is now the obligatory way to message friends because young people do not like to talk on the phone.

Another way we use obligatory is when we are talking about something that people have stereotypically⁷ used but is not really needed.

Many movies for young people feature obligatory dance scenes at the end of the film.

The obligatory two-week notice before you quit your job is common in the U.S. but not required by law.

Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Nelson.

Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at [email protected].

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Words in This Story

authority – n. a leadership figure or government

obligation – n. something that you must do because it is morally right

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

3 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

4 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

7 stereotypically   

adv.带有成见地(stereotype的副词形式)

参考例句：