Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of adapti
Coloured illustration of adapti
#2570 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to adapt, to adjust, to fit one thing to another

Word origin

From Latin adaptare, built from ad, to, and aptare, to fit, from aptus, fitted or suitable. The English words apt, aptitude and attitude all come off the same root, attitude by a detour through Italian.

Origin
Latin
Root
adaptare
English cognates
adapt, apt, aptitude

Examples

.

We have to adapt the plan to the new situation.

.

He adapted the book for the stage.

.

I quickly adapted to the new school.

Another false seam, and this one is quick to dismantle. is not a- plus dapti. Esperanto has no prefix a- and no root dapt-; both would have to exist for the reading to work and neither does. The root is adapt-, one piece, from Latin. If you want the same shape done honestly, look at i, to make other, which really is plus --.

The grammar point matters more than the etymology. is transitive: something is adapted, and there is always an object. You adapt a plan, a book, a machine, a text. This catches English speakers constantly, because English lets you say I adapted to the climate with no object at all. Esperanto does not. To say that you need the -- form, i, which turns the action back on the subject: is . The third example above dodges it the other way, with a reflexive object, , and both are correct.

This is the igi and iĝi contrast in miniature.-- makes something happen to another thing, -- makes it happen to the subject. Since already means to make something fit, it needs no --, and i would mean to have a third party do the adapting. Meanwhile a is adaptable in the sense of a person who copes, o is an adapter in the electrical sense, and o is the process.

Nearby verbs. Ŝanĝi is simply to change, with no implication that the result fits anything better. Konformi is to conform, to match a standard already set. Alĝustigi is to adjust in the mechanical sense of tuning a setting. is the one that says a thing has been reshaped to suit new circumstances, which is why it is also the word for a novel turned into a screenplay.

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Esperanto · Free printables

adapti: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "adapti" (to adapt, to adjust, to fit one thing to another): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 52.