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adapt/adjust

nytas

Senior Member
chinese
Hi, everyone, what's the difference between adapt and adjust?

They found that more than 50 percent of the freshmen were situationally lonely at the beginning of the semester as a result of their new circumstances but had adjusted after a few months.

Can adjusted be replaced by adapted here?
The dictionary says: 👁 Smile :)


Adapt....

To make suitable to requirements or conditions; adjust or modify fittingly: They adapted themselves to the change quickly. He adapted the novel for movies.


Adjust...
1.to change (something) so that it fits, corresponds, or conforms; adapt; accommodate: to adjust expenses to income. 2.to put in good working order; regulate; bring to a proper state or position: to adjust an instrument. 3.to settle or bring to a satisfactory state, so that parties are agreed in the result: to adjust our differences.

Realy hope this info should help you....
Best regards... yarmy7
👁 Big Grin :D
Thanks yarmy👁 Smile :)

My question is whether the two words are interchangable in my sentence. Since dictionary uses two words to explain each other, I think adapt is ok in my case, but the key is that only adjust is acceptable.
Can you explain that? Thanks!
Hi, everyone, what's the difference between adapt and adjust?

They found that more than 50 percent of the freshmen were situationally lonely at the beginning of the semester as a result of their new circumstances but had adjusted after a few months.

Can adjusted be replaced by adapted here?

The words are interchangeable but my preference is for `adapted`. I do not know why `situationally lonely` is used here. The sentence would be better as follows:

They found that more than 50 percent of the students felt lonely at the beginning of the semester, as a result of their circumstances, but had adapted to the situation after a few months.

.
It's hard to see any meaningful difference in the example sentence you gave.

Perhaps "adjust" emphasises a change of outlook or attitude, and small changes to daily routine, etc whereas "adapt" implies a bigger change perhaps taking up new pastimes, making a conscious effort to meet new people, joining new clubs/societies, dropping old habits, etc - even dressing differently.

But in some situations they are *very* different in meaning.

If I adjust a piece of equipment, it means I alter the settings by changing the controls - eg adjust the volume of the TV.

If I adapt a piece of equipment or building, it means I make alterations to its construction, I remove old parts and/or add new parts. eg he adapted his house so that he could use it as a small hotel.

But in the original example given I would not read any significant difference between adjust/adapt.

Robbo
with your explanation of adapt and adjust Robbo, I would think that students would then adapt. It's not just a small change in routine or outlook.

You never hear of animals adjusting to their new environments. They have to adapt. Normally they can't just make a small change and go on with life as normal in a completely new environment.

NL
The presence of the phrase "situationally lonely" and using "adjust" for "adapt" tends to imply that the phrase comes from someone attempting to sound distant, disinterested - like an anthropological commentary rather than a sympathetic observation.

You're right, though - in this case either "adapt" or "adjust" are acceptable; it's simply the nuance that changes.
Hi everyone, thanks for your help.
I didn't provide the context of the sentence in my first post. The sentence was cut from an article on a research on loneliness. "situationally lonely" is in contrast to "chronically lonely" in the article. "situational loneliness" means the loneliness felt over a short period of time instead of a long time.
It's hard to see any meaningful difference in the example sentence you gave.

Perhaps "adjust" emphasises a change of outlook or attitude, and small changes to daily routine, etc whereas "adapt" implies a bigger change perhaps taking up new pastimes, making a conscious effort to meet new people, joining new clubs/societies, dropping old habits, etc - even dressing differently.

But in some situations they are *very* different in meaning.

If I adjust a piece of equipment, it means I alter the settings by changing the controls - eg adjust the volume of the TV.

If I adapt a piece of equipment or building, it means I make alterations to its construction, I remove old parts and/or add new parts. eg he adapted his house so that he could use it as a small hotel.

But in the original example given I would not read any significant difference between adjust/adapt.

Robbo

I agree
To simplifie I Think that "adjust" is a correction of something,infact we can adjust a picture with photoshop.
"adapt" is more a transformation,infact a novel can be adapted in movie.
In that case these words are not interchangeable.

therefore in the original sentence of this thread I prefer "adjust" becouse the person has to correct something,for example his habit or his beahviour.
Giaco
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