adopterade

Adopterade is the past tense form of the Swedish verb adoptera, meaning to adopt. It is used to describe actions of adopting that occurred in the past or to refer to people who have been adopted. For example, hon adopterade ett barn means she adopted a child. The form changes with the subject in the preterite: jag adopterade, du adopterade, han/hon adopterade, vi adopterade, ni adopterade, de adopterade.

Adopterade also appears as a plural or descriptive form in noun phrases, where it functions as part of adjectives describing status. In this use, the corresponding past participle as an adjective is adopterad (singular) and adopterade (plural), as in adopterade barn (adopted children). The supine form of the verb is adopterat, used in certain verbal constructions.

Usage notes: In ordinary past-tense narration, adopterade is the standard form. When describing the status of a person or object after the fact, adopterad can be used as an attributive adjective. In legal or administrative contexts, terminology may specify whether adoptions are domestic or international, but adopterade primarily serves as the general past tense of adoptera.

Etymology: The word derives from the verb adoptera, itself from Latin adoptare, via French adopter, and then into Swedish as adoptera with the past forms adopterade and related participles.

See also: adoption, adoptive parent, adopted person, adopterad.