Difference Between Error and Mistake

Main Difference – Error vs Mistake

Both error and mistake imply that something has been done wrong. Although error and mistake both refer to something wrong, inaccurate or faulty, there is a difference between them based on their usage. The main difference between error and mistake is that error is more formal and technical than mistake. Now we are going to look at these two words more closely and try to identify the other differences between them.

What is a Mistake

A mistake can refer to an act or judgment that is misguided or wrong. For example, you use the word mistake to refer to a decision which brought unsuccessful results.

Her decision to sell the house was a big mistake.

I realized that meeting him was a mistake.

Mistake can also be used to refer something (a word, figure, fact, etc.) that is not correct.

You make too much spelling mistakes.

There is a mistake in this page.

The word mistake may sometimes also imply that the person who made the mistake have knowledge, even though did it inaccurately. It may be carelessness that resulted in a mistake. The person who made the mistake may be able to identify his own mistake.

What is an Error

Error also has the same meaning as mistake. However, the word error is considered to be more formal than mistake. It is commonly used in technical and academic writing. Error is also used in relation to software and computer. Given below are some examples of the usage of this word:

This paper has several errors.

He made an error of judgment.

I received an error message saying that password is incorrect.

In linguistics, making errors in language indicate a person’s lack of knowledge. Therefore, the person who is making the error doesn’t know that he is doing something wrong. For example, you do not understand some concepts in math, so you make a lot of errors because you don’t have knowledge in math. Now, imagine a situation where you understand and know the concepts, but you did the calculations in a rush because you had to go out. You had knowledge, but it’s your carelessness that resulted in the mistakes.

Although error and mistake can sometimes be used interchangeably, they cannot be interchanged in some expressions such as error of judgment and human error.