Adapt to

Question

When is adapt to followed by infintive or gerund?He can't adapt himself to be free or being free

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

HasibrahmanWhen is adapt to followed by an infinitive or a gerund?

It's followed by an infinitive when it's an infinitive of purpose, that is, when 'to' means 'in order to' or can be paraphrased with 'for the purpose of -ing ...".

Animals and plants must adapt to survive.
~ ... in order to survive; ... for the purpose of surviving

It's followed by a gerund in other cases, that is, when the words after 'to' tell us what situation must be adapted to.

Now that her little brother has been born, she will have to adapt to having a sibling.

And then there's also your example:

He can't adapt himself to being free.

But 'adapt to' is more often followed by a noun phrase than by a verbal form:

adapt to new rules, adapt to the circumstances, adapt to higher costs

CJ

Adapt to

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