‘Preventive’ or ‘Preventative’?

There is no difference between prevent And prevent. Both are adjectives meaning “used to prevent something bad from happening.” Both words are commonly used in healthcare related contexts, as in “preventive/preventive medicine”. preventhowever, is used much more often than prevent.

Although the English language is rich with many variations, many of us find it annoying to encounter two forms of a word that are only slightly different but mean the same thing. If this happens with a rather confusing word pair (such as dialectic And dialectic) it usually won’t attract much attention. (Except on Twitter.) But as the words near become more commonly used and attract attention, we often find that one of them is condemned. As is the case with prevent And prevent.

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The words coexisted for 200 years before claims of ‘precaution’ began in the late 18th century.

Shorter words, preventhas meanings like “something to prevent” when used as a noun and “reserved or concerned with preventing” when used as an adjective. prevent means the same thing. The question of which one you should choose depends a lot on your preference for eating caviar.

History of Prevention and Prevention

Out of two, prevent slightly older, appearing in English in the early 17th century.

Therefore, Philip of Macedon, and Atis son of Croesus, found a chariot with a hilt and an iron-pointed weapon while hunting Bore, to deceive their fatigue.— Richard Carew, Cornwall’s Survey1602

The war that we call preuentiue must be given even more importance, for the multitude of firefighters that the Turks carry with them at all times to maintain their cause, and to defeat ours, is infinite.— Louis Turquet de Mayerne (trans. by Edward Grimeston), Generall History of Spain1612

However, prevent not Johnny-coming-recent, showing definite use for over 350 years now.

Here’s a precaution: take a poor man and settle him in a comfortable situation that will cost him (or guarantee) a fair valuation….— Christopher Love, Christopher Love’s Strange and Wonderful Prophecies1651

It opens all obstacles, and stops all forms of overflow in Women, strengthens the uterus, cures the mother, makes the fertility plant proliferate, and is an excellent miscarriage prevention measure. wonderful, and heals most diseases of the womb.— John French, York-shire Spaw1654

Committing sin without preventing sin, when people have the ability to prevent sin, are very close to each other, if not the same Crime.— Roger Boyle Orrery, A qualified person’s reply to a recent scandalous letter printed and registered by PW1662

prevent always more popular prevent (although the difference between the two words is more obvious in some forms of English, such as American varietal, than others). But for almost two hundred years, the two words existed in peace, and no one seemed to care much about which word you used. It is not uncommon for the two to be used interchangeably by the same author in the same work.

…and send it to a nearby Pharmacist to give him something to prevent, since he hasn’t found out he’s sick yet.

…to send the Prophylaxis to the Child’s Father, to whom he told of their Condition.— Daniel Defoe, History of the Great Plague in London1754

But the English language isn’t just rich with many variations; it’s rich as well as strife, and people like to tell you what you’re doing is a bad thing. And so, after more than a century of peaceful coexistence, someone decided that one of these words was a bit off. We don’t know who was the first to complain about prevent is, but individuals began to consider this in the late 18th century. In the mid-19th century, the idea that the minor syllable in prevent accidentally included in dictionaries and manuals.

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John Russell Bartlett, in 1848 American Dictionarysnort that prevent is “A corruption is sometimes encountered for prevent both in England and America.” Following him was Matthew Harrison, who in 1861 Rise, Progress and Current Structure of the English Language declare that prevent nothing more prevent “improper writing and speaking.” This is followed by hundreds or more years of language guides declaring that one of these words is correct and the other is not.

In recent decades there has been some softening in protest prevent. Some guides will assume it’s not a bug, but recommend using prevent for more clarity. We recommend using words that speak to your heart. Or emulate Daniel Defoe and use both.

Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn

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