Thread: slight vs light

Could you, please, explain me a difference between "slight" and "light"? I understand a difference between "light" and "easy" but I don't understand a difference between rules in use of these words i.e. why we should use in one case "light" and other case "slight".

For example:
a slight headache / a light headache
He has a slight cold / He has a light cold.

Are these the synonums or not?

They can be synonyms, and they ARE synonyms in your examples. Slight normally means small, or just a little bit. You can talk about "slight differences"--things that are almost the same, but just a little bit different.

"Light" only has that meaning occasionally. Light can be the opposite of serious. One film is a "light comedy", the other film is a "serious drama".

Hope that helps. If you have other examples, feel free to ask about them.

Thanks a lot paulb. It seems I have understood

Slight can also meen 'thin' / 'slim' [худой].
'She has a slight figure' = 'She is slim / thin'