The difference between words: [Don’t mind] and [Don’t care]
► We can often use “don’t mind” and “don’t care” in the same situations, but [don’t mind] sounds much softer than [don’t care]. For example:
- I don’t mind which restaurant we go to. It’s up to you.
- I don’t care which restaurant we go to. It’s up to you.
- I don’t mind if Jeff comes to the party.
- I don’t care if Jeff comes to the party.
- I don’t mind if you smoke. Please go ahead.
- I don’t care if you smoke. Please go ahead.
- Peter made a joke about my weight, but I don’t mind.
- Peter made a joke about my weight, but I don’t care.
▼ In these situations, [don’t mind] sounds very polite and gentle. It’s like the person is saying “It’s ok with me.”; however, [don’t care] sounds stronger and it’s like the person is saying, “It doesn’t matter to me”.
▼ In addition, we can use [don’t care] in ways that we cannot use “don’t mind”. In these cases, it means there is a lack of interest in something or someone. For example:
- I don’t care about Hollywood celebrities. I’m not interested in their lives at all.
- My wife doesn’t care about me anymore. Last night, she broke up with me.
▼ As you can see from the examples, we always use the preposition “about” after “care” in these situations.
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