Preventative vs. preventive

Preventive is the original adjective corresponding to prevent, but preventative has gained ground—now appearing about a third as often as preventive—and most dictionaries list it as an accepted variant. The two are the same in all their meanings. 

As of late 2011, preventive is about three times as common as preventative in web searches. And as the Ngram at the bottom of this post shows, preventive has been far more common in published books for over a century.

Since publishing this post, we’ve received comments saying that preventive is an adjective and preventative is a noun. This would be a useful distinction, but it is not consistently borne out in practice (the NYT example below notwithstanding). We find no dictionaries or style guides that make the distinction, and those that mention the issue at all simply recommend preventive over preventative without differentiating them.

Examples

Preventative is most often used in publications and websites not known for high editorial standards—for example:

Free preventative services coverage kicks in on many health plans this coming September. [Babble.com]

Shouldn’t all fishing come to a halt as a preventative measure? [CNN.com]

It’s not just those treated who benefit from the preventative approach. [Huffington Post]

Most higher-standards publications use preventive—for example:

In addition, new private plans will have to offer free preventive care, without co-payments or deductibles. [NY Times]

And people weren’t getting tests or preventive care that could help them avoid heart attacks, diabetes or cancer. [WSJ]

Preventive measures are simple and cost-effective. [Financial Times]

This New York Times op-ed uses both words within a single paragraph, with preventative used as a noun and preventive as an adjective:

But we cannot allow ourselves to forget for even a moment that force is effective only as a preventative — to prevent the destruction and conquest of Israel, to protect our lives and freedom. Every attempt to use force not as a preventive measure, not in self-defense . . . [New York Times]

We can’t explain this. We haven’t seen this noun/adjective distinction anywhere else.

Ngram

This Ngram shows the overall trend in preventive and preventative usage from 1880 to 2000. The data comes from all English-language books in Google’s database.


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Posted February 20, 2011 in Spelling. Tagged .
  • nancy edwards-cogswell

    The urge to use an extra syllable strikes me as similar to the urge to use the pronoun “I” instead of “me” as each seems more ‘formal’ and possibly elegant.
    Simple, straightforward and clear is what I was taught. And try to achieve.

  • talltop

    Sad to see a “proper grammar” comment using, in the final sentence, “data” as a singular.  It’s a plural but almost universally mis-used.  :(

  • http://heliotypon.wordpress.com Heliotypon

    Several words of foreign origin are used in the wrong way. “Data” is one example. “Viruses” is another and “forums” one more. The plural of several words of Latin origin (and some of Greek origin) is the same as in their original language. The plural of “Forum” should be “Fori”, of “Spectrum” should be “Spectra” and of “virus” should be “Viri”. The word “Phenomenon” (Grk. origin) is “Phenomena” in plural and this is most frequently observed by writers. Correct Latin plural should also be observed.

    • Grammarist

      We think of it this way: When “forum,” “spectrum,” virus,” and so on are used in English, they are not Latin words. They are English words inspired by the Latin originals. As English words (and long-established ones at that), they can be pluralized in the English manner. They can also be pluralized in the Latin manner, and many writers choose to do so. There really are no rules for English. There are just preferences, and some preferences are more widely held than others.

      Most writers aren’t consistent on these things, though. We use “viruses” instead of “virii” for instance, and “forums” instead of “fora,” but would never think of using “phenomenons.”

      This has nothing to do with “preventative” and “preventive,” though, so we’ll probably delete all these comments in a few days. Here’s our post on “phenomena” and “phenomenon”: http://www.grammarist.com/usage/phenomena-phenomenon/ And here’s our post on “data”: http://www.grammarist.com/usage/data/

  • stowe

    I was thinking off the top of my head that preventative was a noun and preventive was an adjective, but that is just drawing from my personal lexis.

  • andor

    I’m a stick in the mud about my preference for “preventive”.  My standard pushback if someone asks me why is “People don’t preventate things from happening, so why use “preventative” when “preventive” works fine?”  

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/LLGMQKDSM5IPM73EC2MJ5HFSIM Carrie

      MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY!  I am a registered dental hygienist and I hear “preventative” all the time and for the same reason, it drives me crazy!  You prevent, NOT preventate!  Kudos to you!

  • Jenny Dwenger

    One doesn’t “representate”, and yet we have “representative” stemming from “represent”.  I accept the emergence of “preventative” alongside “preventive” as perfectly valid. 

  • Christian LeBlanc

    ‘Preventive’ is always correct and ‘preventative’ is the next thing to ‘irregardless’.