to adapt / an adaptation

'Adapt' means make changes in yourself or something else in order to be more suitable a new context or use. It's important for companies to adapt to changing market trends just as animals need to adapt to their environment in order to survive.

I took the original American questionnaire and adapted it slightly to a New Zealand context.

more example sentences        questions for personal practice        unit 4    exercise 14.1    exercise 14.6

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to amend / an amendment

'Amend' is one of the many verbs that mean to make a change. It’s used especially for changes that have to be made in texts or laws. This kind of change is called “an amendment”. Most Americans know about the Fifth Amendment. This was the fifth change made to the American constitution and was intended to make clearer the rights of the individual under common law. One well-known clause of the Fifth Amendment guarantees the right to remain silent when questioned.

You need to amend your referencing so that it is in line with the APA system we follow here.  

more example sentences        questions for personal practice         unit 4    exercise 7.1    exercise 7.6

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to modify / modification

'Modify' means to change something slightly - often in a technical way - in order to meet new regulations. So, for instance, companies often modify their products because of new laws or to satisfy regulations in countries they want to export to. If an engine is modified, it means that it's been changed - for instance, more more powerful or cleaner.

The software has been modified to protect users against viruses. 

more example sentences        questions for personal practice         unit 4

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to revise / a revision

'Revise' has two meanings, both of which are useful for academic writing. For students, “revise” means to study again – so this is something you normally do before exams. The Student Learning Centre provides workshops in this, by the way. The other meaning of ‘revise’ is to make changes to a document, plan, forecast etc, so that it’s more exact or better than the original version. It’s a very common word in management and academic writing.

 We had to revise our original estimates to take account of the rising costs of oil.  

more example sentences        questions for personal practice         unit 4

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to alter / an alteration

'Alter' also means to change something - usually just a little - especially a design, plan, document or style.

They’ve altered their expansion plans since the market conditions deteriorated. These alterations have reduced costs.

more example sentences        questions for personal practice         unit 4

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