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'Gait' is the manner of walking; 'gate' is the hinged barrier at an entrance.
Side-by-side comparison
"Gait" is the way a person or animal walks or moves. "She has a confident gait" = she walks with confidence.
His uneven gait suggested he had injured his knee during the game.
The patient had developed a distinctive shuffling gait after the surgery.
A horse can have up to five different gaits: walk, trot, canter, gallop, and amble.
"Gate" is the door in a fence, at an airport, or at a stadium. Also a controlled access point. It is pronounced the same as "gait".
Please have your boarding pass ready at the gate.
The old iron gate creaked loudly when they pushed it open.
The stadium had record gate receipts for the championship final.
Common mistake
- •"She had a confident gate" when meaning walking style is wrong: the manner of walking is "gait".
- •"Gate" is the hinged barrier or boarding gate.
Trick to remember it
- •"Gait" contains AI like "trail" and "sail": things that move in a flowing, rhythmic way.
- •"Gate" contains ATE like "late": you arrive late and still need to get through the gate.
Quick rule
- •Is it the manner or style of walking? "Gait".
- •Is it the hinged barrier or boarding gate? "Gate".
Did you know?
Gait analysis is now a sophisticated medical technology. High-speed cameras and floor pressure sensors allow doctors to detect neurological conditions, joint problems, and muscle imbalances from a person's walking pattern before they become clinically obvious. In security, gait recognition identifies people by how they walk, even when faces are not visible to cameras. Each person's gait is as unique as a fingerprint, raising significant privacy questions for public surveillance systems.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
He has an unusual _____ . He walks with a slight limp since his accident.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Please close the _____ behind you. We don't want the dog to get out.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy