Emigrate vs. immigrate is a popular topic due to the fact that both words sound so similar and deal with the same topic.  They mean two completely different things, however, and this quick tip will give you the guidance on how to use them properly.

As with pretty much all of these versus tips on word choice, learning what the words mean by definition is the key to their proper use.  With that being said, let’s first define both emigrate and immigrate.

Emigrate – when you emigrate, you are leaving your current country in order to live in another country.

Immigrate – when you immigrate, you are entering a new country with the purpose of living in it.

Here are a couple of examples using these terms.

My aunt emigrated from Colombia.

She immigrated to Spain.

As you can see the first example showed how my aunt leftColombiato live elsewhere.  The second example showed that she enteredSpainwith the purpose of living in that country.

How about a quick tip on how to remember the difference between emigrate and immigrate?  Here it is:

People that emigrate exit.  Both “emigrate” and “exit” start with the letter “e.”

People that immigrate come into a country.  Both “immigrate” and “into” start with the letter “i.”