Do these sentences mean the same thing?

Question

A. He brought a packet of mixed nuts for a snack.

B. He brought a small bag of mixed nuts for a snack.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

Not really, only in minor detail.  The bag might not be a packet, but a small packet is usually also called a bag.  A large packet will not be a bag, usually.   box or a carton, or something along those lines, but no longer a bag.  Bags themselves are not necessarily closed and sealed (they can be; do not have to be), but that is what we think when we call it a packet.

Most of us would say "a bag of nuts" even if the term "packet" would be a better or more precise description.  We would be talking about exactly the same thing though, whether we said bag or packet.  This is probably partly because peanuts (and other such things like loose candies) were only sold in bags until the plastics revolution allowed prepackaging in packets.  It is sort of like how we still say dial a phone even if there are no longer any dials to dial.

Packet means sealed, as a very general idea.  If it is not sealed, it is not really a packet.

Answer 2

In British English, a packet would be commercially packed. Americans would not use packet that way (but would understand it). Americans would have a bag of nuts, which might or might not be commercially packed.

Answer 3

Yes. A packet and a small bag are essentially the same.

Answer 4

A packet is smaller.

Answer 5

The only exceptionally small difference I can think of between these is that a packet (to me) would be a smaller amount than a small bag. Other than that, there is no other difference.

Answer 6

Essentially the same thing. But the second specifies the amount.

A. The word 'package', is generally used. Not 'packet', in American English

But grammar and spelling are right

Source(s): Native American English speaker

Answer 7

No - B is more specific about the quantity.

Answer 8

I just imagine a different size package when I think of "packet" vs "a small bag".

Otherwise, the basic meaning is the same.  

Answer 9

Yes except in B the packet of nuts was smaller.

Answer 10

they mean the same thing because a packet is a small bag - usually this sentence would be 'as a snack' rather than 'for a snack' but it is still ok