to adapt
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to adapt
To revise and adapt a literary work, play, or other source material for another medium such as film, television, or another culture.
Der Regisseur hat den Bestseller-Roman erfolgreich für die Kinoleinwand adaptiert.
The director successfully adapted the bestselling novel for the big screen.
'Adaptieren' (to adapt) is a verb ending in '-ieren' that comes from a foreign language. These verbs have an important grammatical feature: the past participle is formed without 'ge-'. So it is 'hat adaptiert' (has adapted), not 'hat geadaptiert'.
Er hat die Geschichte für ein jüngeres Publikum adaptiert.
He adapted the story for a younger audience.
When an artistic work is adapted, the preposition 'für' with the accusative often follows to name the new medium. The pattern is: [work] für [medium] adaptieren.
Das Theaterstück wurde erfolgreich für das Fernsehen adaptiert.
The play was successfully adapted for television.
When the meaning is to adapt to new circumstances, the verb is used reflexively with the preposition 'an' and the accusative. The structure is: sich an etwas (Akkusativ) adaptieren.
Pflanzen müssen sich an die veränderten klimatischen Bedingungen adaptieren.
Plants have to adapt to the changed climatic conditions.
In the meaning 'to bring wound edges together', 'adaptieren' (to approximate) is a technical term from medicine. In normal everyday life, the word is not used in this context.
Die Wunde war so tief, dass der Arzt die Ränder adaptieren musste.
The wound was so deep that the doctor had to approximate the edges.
to take over / take on
'übernehmen' and 'adaptieren' can both mean that you do not invent something existing from scratch, but start from a model or source. 'übernehmen' more often means that you use an idea, style, or habit from someone else for yourself, often without major changes. 'adaptieren' means that you deliberately adapt a source, for example a book for a film or a concept for another culture. The words can be confused because in both cases something comes from outside. However, 'adaptieren' sounds more deliberate and emphasizes the adaptation.
Wir adaptieren das Theaterstück für einen kurzen Film.
We are adapting the play into a short film.
Für das neue Plakat übernimmt Lisa die Farben aus dem alten Design.
For the new poster, Lisa adopts the colors from the old design.