adaptarse
verbCEFR B2
What does “adaptarse” mean in English?
to adapt to, to adjust to
to adapt to, to adjust to (adaptarse a — reflexive; self-adjustment to external conditions)
Example sentences
Los inmigrantes de segunda generación suelen adaptarse al nuevo contexto cultural con mayor facilidad que sus padres.
Second-generation immigrants tend to adapt to the new cultural context more easily than their parents.
La empresa ha sabido adaptarse a los cambios tecnológicos sin perder su identidad de marca.
The company has managed to adapt to technological changes without losing its brand identity.
El organismo humano tiene una capacidad notable para adaptarse a condiciones ambientales extremas.
The human body has a remarkable capacity to adapt to extreme environmental conditions.
How to use it
Adaptarse (reflexive) means 'to adapt to' or 'to adjust to'. The preposition is a: adaptarse a los cambios, adaptarse al entorno. Without the reflexive se, adaptar means 'to adapt something' (adaptar una novela al cine — adapt a novel for the screen). At B2, learners need both forms: the reflexive for self-adjustment and the non-reflexive for modifying something else. Common collocations: adaptarse rápidamente / bien / con dificultad.
Common mistake
Don't drop the reflexive se: adaptar (without se) means to adapt something outward (a text, a recipe, a film script), while adaptarse means to adapt oneself to external conditions. English uses the same verb 'adapt' for both, so this distinction is a frequent source of error. Also: the preposition is always a — never *adaptarse con or *adaptarse en.