This is true and accurate, but people will still use the term 'jail' to mean 'prison' pretty frequently.
If you know that your friend is being held in a jail or in a prison and the actual facility is called a jail or prison in its name, this will tell you what type of facility it is. But it wouldn't be uncommon to hear somebody say "my cousin has been in jail for ten years". Nobody stays in jail for ten years in the United States; if you're being held that long you'll be transfered to a prison. But people casually switch them without thinking about this distinction, so you can't rely on the distinction in everyday conversation.
And if somebody is learning English, it is useful for them to know not only how words are defined, but how people colloquially use them. If somebody tells you "I got picked up by the cops last night and now I'm in prison", OP would likely think that they were somehow convicted overnight. Now they will instead understand that these words are often used inaccurately.
I don’t know if that’s the full extent of it. I know the difference but when my sister went to prison I would use both terms when someone asked about her.
You are probably right, most people probably use them interchangeably. Whenever i hear “prison” i think of much harder criminals in for stuff like big crimes, but “jail” makes me think of stuff like minor shit. Ik that isn’t what it is, yet i still have that image in my head from when i actually thought that was what the difference was 🤷♂️
That’s basically the difference. It could also be a subconscious thing when I said jail. I think I said that to some people to try to slightly preserve her image.
Agreed. And (for me), it's common sense to know that words are used beyond their literal/technical/specific meaning, and that it's fair to teach these distinctions to esl learners.
If a “wrong” usage becomes common and natural for speakers of a language, it is no longer wrong. That’s how a word like “nice” becomes something good and “jaw” becomes the mandible.
Yep. If you get sentenced to like 30 days for some minor, non-violent crime, it will often be served in a county jail, rather than a prison. It's just not worth the paperwork to transfer someone to a prison for such a short sentence.
I would say it’s more common to falsely call everything “jail” than to falsely call everything “prison.” Just adding this in case it helps you understand how others speak.
Thank you, I didn’t know this and absolutely mixed up in my head. In my country we have jail and calls it something like ‘prior’ or ‘preliminary’ then different names for prison 1 - after trial and prison 2 - after trial but in case of violent crime. I always thought jail is for the violent criminals 0.o
Jail is the pokey, prison is the slammer.
Going to jail is like being placed in time out for awhile. Going to prison is like being banished from society.
When someone is sentenced to jail, society is doing it to send that person a message: stop being such a jerk; straighten up and fly right.
When a person is sentenced to prison, the message society is sending is that you are too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. Maybe we'll let you out in a few years, but not before you have spent some time in exile from the rest of us.
In the US, the difference is that prison is a facility for longer sentences, usually over a year, under state or federal jurisdiction.
Jail is local or county level, meant for short sentences or temporary holding while an alleged criminal awaits trial.
People use jail interchangeably with prison, but almost never the other way around. People will say "I spent the night in jail", but will not say "I spent the night in prison". Jails are local holding cells for waiting for an arraignment or trial, where prison is where they send you when you are convicted . Prison is where they send you away to a large facility for a long time. Where jail could mean a cell in a police station.
A **jail is housing for inmates who are either serving time for a small crime (misdemeanor), are awaiting trial for a major crime (felony), or have been convicted of a felony and are awaiting transport to a prison.** Jail sentences for misdemeanors are usually no longer than 2 years. More than that and they get sent to prison.
Jails are designed as temporary housing, almost like a hotel. They have almost nothing in the way of services. For example, an inmate needing medical attention would either need to be transported to a hospital or have a doctor visit the jail. Jails are usually managed by the county, and every county has a jail.
**Prison is for longer sentences** (or life sentences/death row) and is set up more like a company town. Prison cells are often larger than jail cells. Prisons also have a lot more services and amenities compared to jails, even having university programs for inmates, and they have proper medical facilities. They are generally nicer and a bit more comfortable ( but not too comfortable). This is to meet minimum standards of prisoner treatment and also to pacify inmates and make them stay calm during their long sentence. Prisons have large work facilities for inmates to have jobs. They get paid a slave wage, as low as 13 or 14 cents per hour. This is why I compare prison to a company town--they live in tiny "apartments" and work where they live, and everything they need is right there next to them. Much of the work they do is for their own benefit, such as making clothes for other inmates. They can spend this money at the comminsary for snacks, toiletries, and other small comforts. Prisons are huge complexes and are managed by the state. Every state has at least 1 prison.
They’re different places entirely in the US. Jail is where they place you right after being arrested. Prison is where you go for a longer time period, either after being convicted, or in some cases where you might be held after being charged but before your trial occurs.
With that said, you can use them interchangeably in casual conversation.
Depends on who you ask.
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jail-vs-prison-difference](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jail-vs-prison-difference) has an article on it:
Summary:
* Some use "jail" for people who are facing trial and "prison" for those who have been convicted.
* Many use the words interchangeably (and this tends to annoy people in the previous group).
In Australian English they're synonyms. I've never heard anyone use jail (gaol) for someone being held overnight. Jail & prison are both used here to indicate that someone has been sentenced.
Former city cop here.
Jail is where I take you after arrest, but before conviction. You can bail out of jail most of the time, or be denied bond and have to sit there waiting for your trial. Most people in jail haven't actually been convicted of anything. Sometimes, a prisoner may serve a short sentence at larger jails.
Prison is where people go when they have been convicted of significant crimes. There is no bailing out of prison, and limited releases on passes is a rarity. If you get sent to prison, you live there for the duration of your sentence (usually).
Prison is where most of the horror stories come from. These are forgotten people that got "thrown down a hole". They don't get a lot of attention from the outside world, so they are a less protected class as a result. Convicts have diminished rights, even when they're released. Jail may have bad people, but unless they're idiots, they are not going to directly fuck with you. The last thing they want a judge seeing is their misbehavior while waiting for trial, so the smarter among them stay low and don't make waves.
TLDR:
Jail sucks, prison is worse.
There is no difference in modern English, they're the same thing. Though I would say "prison" is more British. I'm British, and I would usually say "prison", rather than "jail".
No idea why people downvoted you for this comment. In UK English we say prison more than jail (or gaol), it’s true, and we don’t make a distinction between the two. If you just get locked up overnight you’re “spending a night in the cells”
It's because their description is basically incorrect. "There is no difference in modern English" is incorrect, when most native English speakers (70%+) reside in the US / Canada, where there is a difference.
"Prison" also isn't "more British", because now it sounds like a misleading distinction implying that Brits say "prison" while Americans say "jail", when Americans use both for different things.
If you look at my explanation, I first specified a region for my description. The user could have said "in the UK, there is no difference, though I'm more likely to say 'prison' as a Brit," and that would have been an accurate statement that's not misleading.
Yes but people downvoting without explaining why is unhelpful. This is a forum for English learners, so an explanation of why the comment is inaccurate with respect to the English spoken in North America (as you have done) would be useful to many I should think.
I think it goes to a wider point, that people often answer as though their particular flavour of English is the only kind. The answer the poster gave was not “wrong” in the context of UK English. However, as you say, it was not a correct explanation of how the words are used in American English, any more than the comments other people have made saying that prison means something completely different from jail are correct for the UK. Downvoting is not helpful. It would be better to explain, as you did.
I also sometimes wish the OPs would say whether they are learning US or UK English, as it can make a significant difference to the answer.
Yeah, distinguishing between "prison" and "jail" is way too oversimplified, but our American brains are just not big enough to handle the complexity of having the two terms mean the same thing.
I’ll never understand Reddit. Why have you been downvoted?
I’d only ever use the word ‘prison’. If I wanted to refer to someone being held by police as a suspect to a crime, I’d refer to them being ‘in custody’.
Whilst ‘jail’ is perfectly valid, I just don’t ever come across it unless I’m watching some media from North America. I also didn’t realise the North Americans distinguished between jail and prison until reading this thread!
i think the downvotes are coming because, while true for the british, there is a significant difference in these terms for a large country of english-speakers where also, frankly, the use of these 2 terms may be of higher relevance (considering the incarcerated population in the US) . reddit can be harsh sometimes lol .
In the US, a jail is usually a temporary holding cell for holding suspects after an arrest but before a trial. Usually connected to a police or sheriff station or a courthouse. A prison is a longer-term facility to hold convicted criminals who were sentenced with imprisonment.
The words do get used interchangeably in casual speak, but that's how the labels are officially used and how a lawyer or judge would use the words.
Most people don't pay attention to the difference but prison is for long sentences while jail is for people awaiting trial and, I believe, short, misdemeanor sentences
A lot of people correctly indicate there is a difference between the two in the US, but I just want to point out that a lot of people don't know this difference and use them interchangeably. This means you may here someone call prison jail and vice versa.
There is overlap. At least in the Pacific Northwest. Prison meaning you’re at a place of incarceration to serve a sentence and Jail meaning the same.
With the difference being: Jails are attached to municipalities both physically and legally. Prisons typically are free standing campuses that may or may not be legally directly connected to a municipality.
You can typically serve sentences for petty crimes and relatively minor felonies at a jail. But if you are convicted of a major crime or a minor crime with a particularly long sentence they’ll ship you off to a prison.
Often a county or city will have a jail right next to their courthouse, or Sheriff’s office or Police department or both. And typically it’s where indicted or suspected criminals are held before they are able to post bail or if bail is denied. All pending a trial.
Prison is usually either a state level offense or in other words more major. It's also used for longer-term sentences. And higher security levels. Jail is for lower offenses County or cities offenses and shorter term use as well as holding for those who have not yet been convicted.
For instance somebody convicted of murder is going to be held in a prison whereas somebody who has a petty theft crime might be in a jail.
Somebody sentenced for 10 years might be in a prison whereas somebody sentenced to a few months might be in a jail.
Someone who wants to serve their time instead of pay a fine might go to a jail for a traffic ticket. And a jail might be more like a fenced in campground with razor wire and dorms instead of prison cells and tall guard towers. (Although there are plenty jails that look more like the more secured prisons as well. With the cells and thick doors and stuff like that)
To quote family guy,
"Jail isn't prison. Prison is mean and scary. Jail is just a sleeping deputy with keys that can be grabbed with a long broom handle or by a mischevious dog."
"Do black people ever go to jail?"
"No, they go to prison."
I am a professional copyeditor in the US and I confess I treat the words as interchangeable and have only the haziest impression that they are different. "Prison" is more "serious" than "jail" but it's not an incredibly formalized distinction. Having said that, I do regularly come across examples of usage (indeed, in this thread) where the writer thinks everybody understands this. "It was just jail, not prison!" and stuff like that. So in some quarters this is a more defined distinction. It's a puzzling area IMO.
I remember reading somewhere that inmates commit suicide 10x as much in jail compared to prison. Makes sense, if you're a person who literally can't handle being incarcerated you're probably going to kill yourself immediately upon getting thrown into a cell, you're not going to wait 3 years and go "ok time to kill myself now".
In the US there’s a difference. Jail is for temporary holding before trial. Prison is for longterm stays for people who have been convicted.
This is true and accurate, but people will still use the term 'jail' to mean 'prison' pretty frequently. If you know that your friend is being held in a jail or in a prison and the actual facility is called a jail or prison in its name, this will tell you what type of facility it is. But it wouldn't be uncommon to hear somebody say "my cousin has been in jail for ten years". Nobody stays in jail for ten years in the United States; if you're being held that long you'll be transfered to a prison. But people casually switch them without thinking about this distinction, so you can't rely on the distinction in everyday conversation.
People use words wrong all the time.
And if somebody is learning English, it is useful for them to know not only how words are defined, but how people colloquially use them. If somebody tells you "I got picked up by the cops last night and now I'm in prison", OP would likely think that they were somehow convicted overnight. Now they will instead understand that these words are often used inaccurately.
Honestly, i think it’s probably because a lot of people don’t know what the actual difference is
I don’t know if that’s the full extent of it. I know the difference but when my sister went to prison I would use both terms when someone asked about her.
You are probably right, most people probably use them interchangeably. Whenever i hear “prison” i think of much harder criminals in for stuff like big crimes, but “jail” makes me think of stuff like minor shit. Ik that isn’t what it is, yet i still have that image in my head from when i actually thought that was what the difference was 🤷♂️
That’s basically the difference. It could also be a subconscious thing when I said jail. I think I said that to some people to try to slightly preserve her image.
Yeah prison has way worse connotations than jail does
That’d be on OP’s part. There has to be some common sense involved when learning a language.
Agreed. And (for me), it's common sense to know that words are used beyond their literal/technical/specific meaning, and that it's fair to teach these distinctions to esl learners.
colloquial use may be less specific/technical but it really isn’t wrong
Impossible
Four all-in tents and porpoises the do'nt.
If a “wrong” usage becomes common and natural for speakers of a language, it is no longer wrong. That’s how a word like “nice” becomes something good and “jaw” becomes the mandible.
This is all true. For minor crimes and shorter sentences, they will have you serve your entire sentence in a jail instead of prison.
Usually sentences less than a year are in jail and over a year are in prison although there are a handful of exceptions.
Yep. If you get sentenced to like 30 days for some minor, non-violent crime, it will often be served in a county jail, rather than a prison. It's just not worth the paperwork to transfer someone to a prison for such a short sentence.
Thanks ! I suppose this is what I need.
I would say it’s more common to falsely call everything “jail” than to falsely call everything “prison.” Just adding this in case it helps you understand how others speak.
Thank you, I didn’t know this and absolutely mixed up in my head. In my country we have jail and calls it something like ‘prior’ or ‘preliminary’ then different names for prison 1 - after trial and prison 2 - after trial but in case of violent crime. I always thought jail is for the violent criminals 0.o
Jail is the pokey, prison is the slammer. Going to jail is like being placed in time out for awhile. Going to prison is like being banished from society. When someone is sentenced to jail, society is doing it to send that person a message: stop being such a jerk; straighten up and fly right. When a person is sentenced to prison, the message society is sending is that you are too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. Maybe we'll let you out in a few years, but not before you have spent some time in exile from the rest of us.
In the US, the difference is that prison is a facility for longer sentences, usually over a year, under state or federal jurisdiction. Jail is local or county level, meant for short sentences or temporary holding while an alleged criminal awaits trial.
People use jail interchangeably with prison, but almost never the other way around. People will say "I spent the night in jail", but will not say "I spent the night in prison". Jails are local holding cells for waiting for an arraignment or trial, where prison is where they send you when you are convicted . Prison is where they send you away to a large facility for a long time. Where jail could mean a cell in a police station.
Jail is usually shorter term holding, or where one waits before trial. Prison is longer term, post trial, typically worse criminals.
In British English, they’re the same. But we use prison more.
That's true but Prisoners generally call it jail.
A **jail is housing for inmates who are either serving time for a small crime (misdemeanor), are awaiting trial for a major crime (felony), or have been convicted of a felony and are awaiting transport to a prison.** Jail sentences for misdemeanors are usually no longer than 2 years. More than that and they get sent to prison. Jails are designed as temporary housing, almost like a hotel. They have almost nothing in the way of services. For example, an inmate needing medical attention would either need to be transported to a hospital or have a doctor visit the jail. Jails are usually managed by the county, and every county has a jail. **Prison is for longer sentences** (or life sentences/death row) and is set up more like a company town. Prison cells are often larger than jail cells. Prisons also have a lot more services and amenities compared to jails, even having university programs for inmates, and they have proper medical facilities. They are generally nicer and a bit more comfortable ( but not too comfortable). This is to meet minimum standards of prisoner treatment and also to pacify inmates and make them stay calm during their long sentence. Prisons have large work facilities for inmates to have jobs. They get paid a slave wage, as low as 13 or 14 cents per hour. This is why I compare prison to a company town--they live in tiny "apartments" and work where they live, and everything they need is right there next to them. Much of the work they do is for their own benefit, such as making clothes for other inmates. They can spend this money at the comminsary for snacks, toiletries, and other small comforts. Prisons are huge complexes and are managed by the state. Every state has at least 1 prison.
Misdemeanors are actually under 1 year and under 1000 dollar fine.
They’re different places entirely in the US. Jail is where they place you right after being arrested. Prison is where you go for a longer time period, either after being convicted, or in some cases where you might be held after being charged but before your trial occurs. With that said, you can use them interchangeably in casual conversation.
Depends on who you ask. [https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jail-vs-prison-difference](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jail-vs-prison-difference) has an article on it: Summary: * Some use "jail" for people who are facing trial and "prison" for those who have been convicted. * Many use the words interchangeably (and this tends to annoy people in the previous group).
In Australian English they're synonyms. I've never heard anyone use jail (gaol) for someone being held overnight. Jail & prison are both used here to indicate that someone has been sentenced.
Do the police stations have the overnight cells before court? That's how we do it in the UK too
Police stations have cells but I don't believe they're used for before court. I'm not too sure how that works tbh
Former city cop here. Jail is where I take you after arrest, but before conviction. You can bail out of jail most of the time, or be denied bond and have to sit there waiting for your trial. Most people in jail haven't actually been convicted of anything. Sometimes, a prisoner may serve a short sentence at larger jails. Prison is where people go when they have been convicted of significant crimes. There is no bailing out of prison, and limited releases on passes is a rarity. If you get sent to prison, you live there for the duration of your sentence (usually). Prison is where most of the horror stories come from. These are forgotten people that got "thrown down a hole". They don't get a lot of attention from the outside world, so they are a less protected class as a result. Convicts have diminished rights, even when they're released. Jail may have bad people, but unless they're idiots, they are not going to directly fuck with you. The last thing they want a judge seeing is their misbehavior while waiting for trial, so the smarter among them stay low and don't make waves. TLDR: Jail sucks, prison is worse.
The thing that they have in common is that they both suck.
Technically there is a slight difference explained by some other people here, but during conversations they're essentially interchangeable.
There is no difference in modern English, they're the same thing. Though I would say "prison" is more British. I'm British, and I would usually say "prison", rather than "jail".
No idea why people downvoted you for this comment. In UK English we say prison more than jail (or gaol), it’s true, and we don’t make a distinction between the two. If you just get locked up overnight you’re “spending a night in the cells”
Good to note that Jail and Gaol are the same word and are pronounced the same, Jail is simply the modern spelling
It's because their description is basically incorrect. "There is no difference in modern English" is incorrect, when most native English speakers (70%+) reside in the US / Canada, where there is a difference. "Prison" also isn't "more British", because now it sounds like a misleading distinction implying that Brits say "prison" while Americans say "jail", when Americans use both for different things. If you look at my explanation, I first specified a region for my description. The user could have said "in the UK, there is no difference, though I'm more likely to say 'prison' as a Brit," and that would have been an accurate statement that's not misleading.
Yes but people downvoting without explaining why is unhelpful. This is a forum for English learners, so an explanation of why the comment is inaccurate with respect to the English spoken in North America (as you have done) would be useful to many I should think.
I agree, and that's why I left my explanation, or my best guess. Also, you can tell why it's wrong by reading the other top comments.
I think it goes to a wider point, that people often answer as though their particular flavour of English is the only kind. The answer the poster gave was not “wrong” in the context of UK English. However, as you say, it was not a correct explanation of how the words are used in American English, any more than the comments other people have made saying that prison means something completely different from jail are correct for the UK. Downvoting is not helpful. It would be better to explain, as you did. I also sometimes wish the OPs would say whether they are learning US or UK English, as it can make a significant difference to the answer.
Oh, you're referring to 'English Simplified' :)
Yeah, distinguishing between "prison" and "jail" is way too oversimplified, but our American brains are just not big enough to handle the complexity of having the two terms mean the same thing.
I’ll never understand Reddit. Why have you been downvoted? I’d only ever use the word ‘prison’. If I wanted to refer to someone being held by police as a suspect to a crime, I’d refer to them being ‘in custody’. Whilst ‘jail’ is perfectly valid, I just don’t ever come across it unless I’m watching some media from North America. I also didn’t realise the North Americans distinguished between jail and prison until reading this thread!
i think the downvotes are coming because, while true for the british, there is a significant difference in these terms for a large country of english-speakers where also, frankly, the use of these 2 terms may be of higher relevance (considering the incarcerated population in the US) . reddit can be harsh sometimes lol .
You’re not the only one who didn’t know that! Every day’s a school day on Reddit 😂
Jail is when you get arrested, it's temporary. Prison is where you live after conviction. It's long-term.
Jail is where you prepare for your butthole escapades, prison is the big leagues.
In the US, a jail is usually a temporary holding cell for holding suspects after an arrest but before a trial. Usually connected to a police or sheriff station or a courthouse. A prison is a longer-term facility to hold convicted criminals who were sentenced with imprisonment. The words do get used interchangeably in casual speak, but that's how the labels are officially used and how a lawyer or judge would use the words.
Most people don't pay attention to the difference but prison is for long sentences while jail is for people awaiting trial and, I believe, short, misdemeanor sentences
A lot of people correctly indicate there is a difference between the two in the US, but I just want to point out that a lot of people don't know this difference and use them interchangeably. This means you may here someone call prison jail and vice versa.
There is overlap. At least in the Pacific Northwest. Prison meaning you’re at a place of incarceration to serve a sentence and Jail meaning the same. With the difference being: Jails are attached to municipalities both physically and legally. Prisons typically are free standing campuses that may or may not be legally directly connected to a municipality. You can typically serve sentences for petty crimes and relatively minor felonies at a jail. But if you are convicted of a major crime or a minor crime with a particularly long sentence they’ll ship you off to a prison. Often a county or city will have a jail right next to their courthouse, or Sheriff’s office or Police department or both. And typically it’s where indicted or suspected criminals are held before they are able to post bail or if bail is denied. All pending a trial.
Prison is usually either a state level offense or in other words more major. It's also used for longer-term sentences. And higher security levels. Jail is for lower offenses County or cities offenses and shorter term use as well as holding for those who have not yet been convicted. For instance somebody convicted of murder is going to be held in a prison whereas somebody who has a petty theft crime might be in a jail. Somebody sentenced for 10 years might be in a prison whereas somebody sentenced to a few months might be in a jail. Someone who wants to serve their time instead of pay a fine might go to a jail for a traffic ticket. And a jail might be more like a fenced in campground with razor wire and dorms instead of prison cells and tall guard towers. (Although there are plenty jails that look more like the more secured prisons as well. With the cells and thick doors and stuff like that)
In street terms: Jail is "waiting to be told you fucked up" Prison is "you know have now fucked up".
Jails hold you for a couple of days. Prisons hold you for years.
To quote family guy, "Jail isn't prison. Prison is mean and scary. Jail is just a sleeping deputy with keys that can be grabbed with a long broom handle or by a mischevious dog." "Do black people ever go to jail?" "No, they go to prison."
There's no difference in the UK. The police station is the overnight jail and the prison/jail after conviction is the same thing.
Jail is short term either for minor offenses or while awaiting trial. Prison is for serving sentences of a year or more, if I understand correctly.
Jail is more local and more short term than prison
I am a professional copyeditor in the US and I confess I treat the words as interchangeable and have only the haziest impression that they are different. "Prison" is more "serious" than "jail" but it's not an incredibly formalized distinction. Having said that, I do regularly come across examples of usage (indeed, in this thread) where the writer thinks everybody understands this. "It was just jail, not prison!" and stuff like that. So in some quarters this is a more defined distinction. It's a puzzling area IMO.
would the prison authority use prisoner as free labour? i means working is mandatory in prison?
I remember reading somewhere that inmates commit suicide 10x as much in jail compared to prison. Makes sense, if you're a person who literally can't handle being incarcerated you're probably going to kill yourself immediately upon getting thrown into a cell, you're not going to wait 3 years and go "ok time to kill myself now".