Share
Adequate vs Adequated – What’s the difference?
Question
Have you ever heard someone say that something is adequate? If so, does that mean it’s good or bad? Or perhaps you’ve heard someone say that something is adequate for their needs. Well, if so, how do you know whether this person is satisfied with their situation? Let’s explore the differences between adequate and adequate plus learn how these words are used in different contexts.
Adequate and adequate are words that are often used interchangeably. However, they do have subtle differences in meaning and use.
Adequate is the more general of the two words and can be used to describe a wide range of things (e.g., adequate lighting). Adequated is more specific; it refers specifically to something being “sufficiently prepared or trained.” For example: “The army was inadequately equipped.” vs “The army was adequately equipped.”
Adequate is defined as “sufficient in size, quantity, or extent.” It can be used as an adjective or an adverb.
Adequate is more formal than adequate and is often used to describe something that is not perfect, but good enough.
In addition to its primary definition of being sufficient for a purpose, adequate is also used to describe people’s skills or abilities–for example: “My boss said my performance was adequate.” In this case it means that you did not perform poorly enough for him/her to fire you; however he/she would have preferred better results from you (if possible).
Adequated is defined as “to adapt or make suitable for a particular purpose.”
An example of something that is adapted or made suitable would be an example where you have a table that is already in use, but it needs to be moved into another room. In this case, you would probably want to move the table so that it would be more convenient for your purposes.
You could also use this word when talking about changing something from one thing into another thing. For example: “The company has decided to change its name from ‘Company X’ to ‘Company Y.'” In this case, Company X has decided on changing their name so that it better represents them and their services/products/etc., which makes sense because if someone sees “Company X” and thinks about what kind of business they do (or don’t), then maybe some customers wouldn’t want anything at all from such a company!
You will sometimes hear people use these words together to refer to an adequate amount of something.
An adequate amount is just enough, but not too much or too little. For example, if you want your cupcake to be covered with frosting, but not so much that it’s dripping off the sides, then you could say: “I think this is an adequate amount of frosting.” Or if someone asks how many boxes of cereal should be in their pantry and you don’t know for sure because there are no rules about how many boxes a person should have in their pantry (but also maybe this is something other people might care about), then maybe instead of saying anything at all about whether or not there are enough or too many boxes in there already (which would require more thinking than necessary), we can just say “My recommendation is that each shelf has at least three rows full of food items.”
If you’re looking for a way to improve your writing, try using these words correctly. If you can do that, then your audience will appreciate it!
Answer ( 1 )
If you’re someone who’s always trying to stay on top of the English language, you’ve probably come across the words “adequate” and “adequated”. What’s the difference between these two words? Let’s find out! 🤔
Adequate is an adjective that means “sufficient for a specific purpose.” For example, “The band had an adequate sound system.”
Adequated is the past tense of the verb “to adequately”. It means “to make something adequate or suitable for a particular purpose.” For example, “The band adequated their sound system.”
So, the main difference between “adequate” and “adequated” is that “adequate” is an adjective, while “adequated” is a verb. 🤓
It’s important to note that when you use “adequate” as an adjective, you don’t need to add the “ed” at the end. For example, you can say, “The band had an adequate sound system.” But if you’re using “adequated” as a verb, you need to add the “ed” at the end. For example, “The band adequated their sound system.”
So, the next time you’re trying to decide between “adequate” and “adequated”, remember that “adequate” is an adjective and “adequated” is a verb. 💡