Know your English | How to use ‘adopt’ and ‘adapt’ Premium

A column which deals with English grammar, phrases and usages.

The only thing common between these two verbs is that they both have the stress on the second syllable. When we hear the word ‘adopt’, we immediately think of children. Childless couples, often adopt children. When people adopt a child, they take the child as it is; they do not request for changes to be made. They do not ask that the child’s eyes be made bigger, the face rounder, etc. The child is taken as it is. Similarly, when you adopt somebody’s plan, you make use of the original plan; you do not make any changes.

I’m told that both their children have been adopted.

Given how different our companies are, you’ll find it difficult to adopt our plans.

The word ‘adapt’ has a slightly different meaning from ‘adopt’. When you ‘adapt’ someone’s plan, what you are doing is making changes to it; you make adjustments so that it becomes more suitable for you and the situation you are in. The changes that you make may be minor or major in nature. Like ‘adopt’, the word ‘adapt’ can be used with people as well. For example, when people go abroad, they need to adjust or adapt to the new place. One way of achieving this, is by making deliberate changes in their life style — wearing different types of clothes, changing their daily routine, etc.

It took Priya time to adapt to the hustle and bustle of city life.

Let’s adapt some of the recommendations he’s made.

The expression ‘beg your pardon’ is used by native speakers of English in different contexts. For example, if you step on someone’s foot, you automatically say, ‘I beg your pardon’. In this context, the expression means ‘I’m sorry’. Similarly, when you are unable to hear what someone is saying, you can say, ‘I beg your pardon’; in this case, you are requesting him to repeat what he just said. The word ‘beg’ has several different meanings; one of them is ‘ask for’. Therefore, when you ‘beg someone’s pardon’, you are asking for his pardon. You are not begging like a beggar, but merely requesting the individual that you be pardoned for the mistake you have made.