Discriminate, discriminated, and discriminating

You should be aware that the word discriminate has two meanings. The general meaning is similar to the meaning of distinguish, and refers to the act of telling the difference between two things. The more specific meaning, which is usually the first one students encounter, refers to a tendency to distinguish unfairly between different classes of people, such as people of different races.

It is important to remember that when used with the negative meaning, discriminate is followed by against when the group treated unfairly is mentioned.

The new law strengthened the position of Romansh but at the same time it made many German native speakers feel discriminated too.

The new law strengthened the position of Romansh but at the same time it made many German native speakers feel discriminated against, too.

Beware the word discriminating. When used as an adjective, this is a very positive word, meaning something akin to tasteful, as in Sue is a very discriminating reader. This refers to a person’s ability to choose carefully between what is good and what is bad.