Appropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt

Appropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt Appropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt Appropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt By Maeve Maddox A reader has asked for a discussion of â€Å"appropriate vs. apropos vs. apt.† All three words may be used as adjectives meaning suitable or pertinent: Your reference to â€Å"The Emperor’s New Clothes† is apropos of the way so many people conform to social expectations rather than think for themselves. I admire your apt choice of words in this article. A rating of â€Å"G† indicates that a movie is appropriate for children. Of the three adjectives, appropriate [uh-PRO-pree-it] is heard more often. Appropriate derives from the past participle of a Latin verb, a combination of ad (to) and proprius (own). Something appropriate â€Å"belongs† to someone or something. Here are some examples of current usage: How Having An Appropriate Level Of Confidence Can Better Your Life By comparing many entertainment jobs, you should be able to get a good idea of the appropriate salary. The young offender could not be questioned without an appropriate adult present Was Lohan’s courtroom attire appropriate? Note: English also has the verb appropriate [uh-PRO-pree-ATE], â€Å"to take possession of.† For example, â€Å"A section of land at St. Clements in Oxfordhas been appropriated to planning purposes to facilitate a regeneration project intended for the area.† Apt is from the Latin word aptus, â€Å"fitted, suited, appropriate.† The adjective derives from a verb meaning â€Å"to fasten, to attach.† The most common use of apt is to describe the fitness or expressiveness of language. Another meaning of apt is â€Å"ready to learn,† as in â€Å"She’s an apt student.† Sometimes apt is a synonym for likely: â€Å"Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.† Apt can also be used in the sense of â€Å"having an unfortunate tendency, or â€Å"exposed to a risk†: Spanked kids more apt to commit crimes Study: Immigrants who live, work together less apt to learn English The adjectival use of apropos is the least common of the three. I’ve seen forum comments asserting that apropos is â€Å"never a synonym for appropriate.† A French borrowing, apropos functions more often as a preposition or as an adverb. Apropos comes from French propos, â€Å"with regard to this purpose.† As an adjective, it is a synonym for appropriate: My point is rather that it is not  apropos  in every case. The mayor called the cornflake comment â€Å"not apropos† and warned Lukaszuk to be careful of what he says. Your allusion to Josephine Tey’s bit of dialogue was very clever and funnybut not apropos As a preposition, apropos means â€Å"with reference to; concerning†: The principal remarked apropos the new regulations, â€Å"They will cost a lot to implement and do nothing to address the problem.† As an adverb, apropos is most commonly heard in the expression â€Å"apropos of nothing.† The sense is that someone’s comments or actions are completely unrelated to any previous discussion or situation. For example, â€Å"Apropos of nothing, Tom started talking about his root canal.† The usual preposition to follow apropos is of. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:15 Terms for Those Who Tell the FutureOn Behalf Of vs. In Behalf OfCharles's Pen and Jesus' Name