Commonly Confused Words Adapt and Adopt

The  words adapt and adopt may sound similar, but their meanings are different. The verb adapt means to change  something to make  it suitable for a particular use or situation; to  change something (such as a novel) so that it can be presented in another form (such as a movie);  or  (for a person)  to change ones  ideas or  behavior so that its  easier to deal with a  particular place or situation. The verb adopt means to take something and make it ones own; to legally take a child into ones family to raise as ones own; or  to formally accept something (such as a proposal) and put it into effect. In The Dirty Thirty (2003), D. Hatcher and L. Goddard offer this mnemonic:  To adopt something is to make it your own; to  adapt  something is to change it.  Also see the usage notes below. Examples AnonymousThe key to success is often the ability to adapt.Tennesse WilliamsMy  sister had been magically suited  to the wild country of childhood but it remained to be seen how she would adapt herself to the uniform and yet more complex world that grown girls enter.Vanessa HuaBefore Id become a parent, Id been so  certain, self-righteous about how I’d raise my children, how they’d eat, sleep and learn, but I’d been humbled. We had to  adapt, to be flexible and creative, not only for their development, but for mine, too.David Barnett[Neil]  Gaiman is the author of several novels and short stories currently being adapted for TV and cinema. His debut novel, American Gods, is being turned into a TV series by the US channel Starz.Ralph Waldo EmersonLeave this military hurry and  adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience.Harold Brookfield and Helen ParsonsIt was a common practice in Japan for a family without male heirs to  adopt a son-in-law who w ould then inherit whatever the family owned, and its debts. Usage Notes Paul BriansYou can adopt a child or a custom or a law; in these cases you are making the object of the adoption your own, accepting it. If you adapt something, however, you are changing it.Theodore M. BernsteinAdapted takes the preposition to (a use); for (a purpose); or from. Practice (a) We need to  _____ to changing circumstances.(b) My sister and her husband plan to _____ a child from another country. Answers to Practice Exercises (a) We need to  adapt to changing circumstances.(b)  My sister and her husband plan to adopt a child from another country.