student asking question

Can I say "identity" instead of "identification"? Or do they have different meanings?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

No, "identity" and "identification" cannot be used interchangeably. "Identification" in this scenario means to be able to recognize or identify someone through their physical appearance based on records or a government-issued document. "Identity" is the qualities of who the person is, what makes that person them. In this scenario, she discusses how to identify the bodies of children over adults, not who the child is. Ex: Someone stole her identity. They have been pretending to be her for the past 3 months. Ex: The identification of the bodies was difficult for the scientist.

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