Difference between actual and current


'Actual' and 'current' are both adjectives and for Hungarian speakers they are easy to confuse. 'Actual' is most often used as a synonym for 'real', while 'current' is used when referring to something connected to the present.

Both notions refer to present and that is why they are confusable. Actual always refer to something real, in reality or something based on fact. Note that actual can only be used in front of a noun, it cannot be used with a verb. For that sense, use current which refers to belonging to the present, or being in progress now. As a noun, it refers to a steady onward flow or movement. In electricity, it means the flow of electric charge through a conductor. In economics, it is an account at a bank in which a customer deposits money.