Words that are easily confused

Adopt/ adapt/ adept

As we have often seen, when short English words only vary from one another by a single letter, they are often easy to confuse.

The special challenge is that if we do not pay careful attention and get a letter wrong, we may type the wrong word on our keyboard. Because the word does exist as a term in English, our Word document spell check will not inform us that we have made an error. So it is better to be alert and avoid making the mistake.

The verb adopt means to legally take responsibility for caring for someone or something:

Adopting from Soi Dog Foundation to Europe, the US, and Canada is straightforward and we organise every step of the process for you.

The verb adopt can also mean to choose to take up, follow, or use, as in:

The course book was adopted for classroom use by most ajarns at the Thammasat Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The word derives from a Latin term meaning to choose.

The verb adapt means to make something appropriate for a new use.

To modify, alter, change, adjust, transform, redesign, restyle, remodel, reconstruct, or reorganize something means to adapt it.

The verb adapt derives from a Latin phrase meaning to fit.

The adjective adept refers to someone who is very skillful at doing something.

If people are expert, proficient, accomplished, capable, competent, than they may be called adept.

The adjective adept originates in a Latin term meaning to have attained a certain level.

How can we keep apart adopt, adapt, and adept? One way might be to create some sentences to remember. As always, the meaning of these sentences are not important, but they bring the words close together that we are hoping not to confuse. As we think of them in such close proximity, their differences become more obvious.

• The translation that the ajarn adapted was so adept that it was adopted for all of the university course work.

• Aunt Apasara was always adept at choosing puppies to be adopted, and her nieces and nephews always adapted easily to the presence of another pet animal at home.

Here are some further usage examples for these terms, to better differentiate them:

• ‘Digital Transformation’ has been a worldwide phenomenon, especially in the professional world and amongst the new generations. The core of ‘Digital Transformation’ is to bring in the ‘Digital Technology’ as integration to all parts of the business, from cloud computing, big data, internet of things (IoT) and many others. From business processes to setting the goals for the company’s future growth, ‘Digital Transformation’ has become vital for organizations to adapt well and thrive in today’s rapid changes. Thailand has also been in an effort to adapt to respond to the ‘Disruption’ that has occurred, with the government trying to push the ‘Thailand 4.0′ policy to change the macro-economic structure to be ‘Value-Based’ economy or ‘Innovation-Driven’ economy… Most importantly, skill trainings should be promoted amongst the Thai workforce. These include the ‘learning skills’ such as analytical thinking and creativity that will help personnel to solve new problems efficiently, the ‘literacy skills’ such as understanding of data, information and technology process that manage the data, and the ‘life skills’ such as experience to improve for the better, to adapt to new situations, leadership and passion in initiating, as well as dedication to create things on their own. We should aim to create flexibility in economic adaptation for the workforce market in order to conform to the new ways of work and the fast-changing society driven by technology and big data.”
• Dell Thailand has unveiled a suite of new commercial laptops and 2-in-1s designed to address the myriad ways people work today, and help them adapt and transition to the future.
• The educational sector needs to quickly adapt to changing times, so its human capital can keep up with the world. LIKE IT or not, technology has already brought about disruption in education, changing the way humans learn, live and work. Thailand, therefore, needs to adapt quickly and efficiently. Otherwise, millions of its citizens – young and old alike – will suffer the consequences. “Let me tell you that disruption is rapidly changing the world we are living in,” Nicha Pittayapongsakorn, a researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute, commented the other day. “We must understand it and explore ways for mutual co-existence.” … Deputy Education Minister Udom Kachintorn has long warned that universities should not wait for government help because their survival, in the face of disruptive technology, relied more on how well they adapt. By his estimates, the impact of the disruption will only be clearly visible in the next four years particularly in light of Thailand’s falling birth rate.
• Amid the growing interconnection between machines and people, Thai consumers and businesses will continue to experience changes. This phenomenon has also raised concerns among captains of the telecom and ICT industries about how Thais will adapt to the new environment… AIS chief executive officer Somchai Lertsutiwong said the world is on the edge of entering the 5G era… “The major concern now is how we adapt ourselves to the future and how we prepare the next generation to be comfortable with their own future. Replaced by robots, AI and automation, many jobs will become unnecessary; many things we currently teach our children in schools and universities might be out of date,” said Somchai.
• City Hall had earlier discussed with the Department of Health what was needed to regulate tattooing as a proper career, but found the job does not meet the criteria set by the Medical Council of Thailand. This means tattooists are not eligible to receive qualification certificates like those presented, for example, to doctors. Neither are people who are adept at making mystical patterns related to traditional beliefs, or sak yan. Their work is also not considered a medical service, even though the practice involves using needles and colour painting on the body, which requires rigid hygienic standards.
• The speed with which Internet-based technology is evolving and the alacrity with which various state and non-state actors are trying to leverage it for their own self-interests is baffling even to an advanced Web-based great power like America, not to mention less technically adept nations.
• Young smart farmers in Chachoengsao province adopt the Internet of Things to grow their 100-per-cent organic produce.
• Villagers rush to adopt abandoned baby.
• The era of digital disruption has seen businesses adopt innovative strategies to fulfil customers’ needs – but consumer behaviour is also undergoing rapid change.
• Man adopted by Belgians hunts for his Thai parents. A Thai-born man adopted by a Belgian couple 27 years ago has returned to Thailand in the hope of finding his biological parents.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)