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student asking question

Can "refer to" be replaced with "indicate" here? If not, is there any difference in meaning?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes, you can use "refer to" and "indicate" interchangeably here, but the more natural option would definitely be "refer to". As verbs the difference between "refer" and "indicate" is that "refer" is used to direct the attention of. Ex: Her mother never referred to him again. Ex: You know who I'm referring to. I promised not to refer to the matter again. "Indicate" is to point out; to discover; to direct to a knowledge of; to show; to make known. Ex: The map indicates where the treasure is buried. Ex: There is nothing to indicate that the two events are connected.

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