Grammatically Correct 11/25/08
A weekly grammar tip created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors.
University of Houston-Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, TX 77901

When to Use: Adopted and Adoptive; Adapt and Adaptive

The Author

Nick Jobe is pursuing a degree in English with secondary teaching certification and has tutored in the Academic Center since January 2007. He is a writer, novelist, and Fall '07 winner of the Golden Ampersand award. He would also like long walks on the beach if he liked going to the beach… or walking.

 

Adopted and Adoptive are often interchanged with each other, when, in reality, they cannot be interchanged.

In its adjective form, adopted refers to the person or thing that was taken in. 

Ex. Billy was the Smith's adopted son.

In its verb form, adopt or adopted means taking into a family or accepting.

Ex. Billy was adopted by the Smith family.

Ex. The university adopted a new mission statement.

Adoptive, on the other hand, is an adjective to describe the person who did the actual taking in.

Ex. Mr. Smith was Billy’s adoptive father.

Hint:  When using adopted and adoptive to express family relationships, adopted is usually the adjective used to refer to children, while adoptive is usually the adjective used to refer to parents.

Adapt and Adaptive are also often interchanged with each other, when, in reality, they cannot be interchanged.

Adapt acts as a verb that means to change in order to fit in.

Ex. The university adapted a new mission statement to reflect its new focus on twenty-first century technologies.

Adaptive, on the other hand, works as an adjective to show that someone is able to adapt.

Ex. Teddy’s adaptive nature would make Darwin proud.

References

"Adopt." Def.1 Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003.

"Adapt." Def.1. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003.

"Adoptive." Def.1. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003.

"Adaptive." Def.1. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003.

Test Your Knowledge

Determine whether the following sentences should use adopted or adoptive. 

1. Bob was (adopted, adoptive) by a Martian family.

2. Sally is the (adopted, adoptive) mother of Susan.

3. Being alone in the forest made baby Tarzan (adapt, adopt) to the nature of the animals.

4. Virginia and Tony had to be (adoptive, adaptive) to the situation of being new parents.

 


Answers:

1. Bob was adopted by a Martian family.

2. Sally is the adoptive mother of Susan.

3. Being alone in the forest made baby Tarzan adapt to the nature of the animals.

4. Virginia and Tony had to be adaptive to the situation of being new parents.

 

Suggested Resources

Related Academic Center Resources

Grammatically Correct is archived on the Academic Center's website, including all of our "when to use" grammar tips

Recommended Grammar Website of the Week

We also recommend the following website: http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/011.html. It gives a few more examples of differences between the adopted and adoptive.

 

 

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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