Common mistakes
Adverse or averse: conditions, feelings, and sentence patterns
The forecast may warn of adverse weather, while a colleague may be averse to travelling in it. The words look similar and share a serious tone, but one describes a bad situation and the other describes a person's attitude.
Choose adverse for an unfavourable condition or effect and averse for a person or group's dislike of an action, idea, or thing.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
adverse / averse /ˈædvɜːs/ /əˈvɜːs/
The short answer
Adverse means harmful or unfavourable, especially before a noun: adverse weather or adverse effects. Averse means unwilling or opposed, usually in a phrase such as averse to change or averse to taking risks.
Heavy rain created adverse conditions for the outdoor event.
Why it works: The rain made the conditions difficult. The sentence describes the situation, not anyone's personal opinion.
4 more examples
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The medicine caused an adverse reaction in one patient.
The reaction was unwanted or harmful.
Not this:One patient was
averse to takingthe medicine after a previous bad experience. What changes: Here the word describes the patient's unwillingness to take it, not the medical effect itself. -
The company faced adverse publicity after the product recall.
The publicity was unfavourable to the company.
Not this:The company was
averse to discussingthe recall before it had checked the facts. What changes: Averse tells us about the company's reluctance to do something. -
Rina is averse to borrowing money from friends.
Rina dislikes or wants to avoid borrowing money from friends.
Not this:Borrowing money in a hurry can have
adverse effectson a friendship. What changes: Adverse describes possible negative consequences, rather than a person's preference. -
The committee was averse to making a decision without the full report.
The committee did not want to make the decision in those circumstances.
Not this:Making a decision without the full report could have
an adverse result. What changes: The result may be unfavourable. It is the possible outcome, not the committee's attitude.
Read the full guide
Start by asking what the sentence is describing. If it describes a bad condition, consequence, or influence, choose adverse. If it describes a person's reaction or reluctance, choose averse. Then check the words around it: averse often needs to after it.
Use adverse for a harmful or unfavourable condition
Adverse describes something that makes a situation worse or works against a desired result. It often comes before nouns such as conditions, weather, effects, reaction, impact, and publicity. The word points to the condition or consequence itself.
Strong winds caused adverse weather conditions on the coast.
The conditions were difficult and potentially harmful. No person's preference is being described.
The delay had an adverse effect on the team's plans.
The effect was negative for the plans, so adverse fits the outcome.
Does the word describe a bad result or someone's personal feeling?
Choose adverse when it describes the bad result, condition, or effect.
Use averse for reluctance or dislike
Averse describes an attitude of not wanting something or being opposed to it. It commonly follows be and names the person or group with that attitude. The next word is often to.
I am averse to signing a contract that I have not read.
The speaker is reluctant to sign. Averse describes that attitude.
The neighbours are averse to late-night noise.
The neighbours dislike the noise. The sentence does not claim that the noise is harmful.
Who has the feeling in the sentence The neighbours are averse to late-night noise?
The neighbours have the feeling, so averse is the right word.
Follow averse with to
Use averse to before a noun, pronoun, or -ing form. This is the usual pattern because to is a preposition here. A verb after it needs the -ing form.
Malik is averse to driving in heavy traffic.
Driving is an activity after the preposition to, so it takes the -ing form.
Malik is averse to long drives in heavy traffic.
Long drives is a noun phrase, so it can also follow to.
Complete the pattern: They are averse to ____ a complaint.
Use making. After averse to, use the -ing form when the next word is a verb.
Separate the outcome from the attitude
One situation can contain both words if it includes a negative result and someone's reaction to it. Keep the two meanings separate. Adverse says what the condition is like; averse says how someone feels about an option.
The adverse forecast made the hikers averse to camping overnight.
The forecast is unfavourable, while the hikers are unwilling to camp.
Adverse market conditions left the investors averse to expanding quickly.
The market conditions are negative. The investors' response is reluctance.
Which word describes the investors rather than the market conditions?
Averse describes the investors because it names their attitude to expanding.
Recognize common formal uses
Adverse appears frequently in formal reports about effects, conditions, and outcomes. Averse is also fairly formal, especially in descriptions of preferences, policy, and risk. In a relaxed conversation, a simpler phrase may sound more natural.
The report found no adverse impact on nearby residents.
Impact is a formal report noun, and adverse says that no negative effect was found.
She is risk-averse and prefers a predictable budget.
Risk-averse means that she prefers to avoid risk. The hyphen joins the compound adjective before the verb.
Which word fits a report about a harmful impact: adverse or averse?
Use adverse because an impact is an effect or outcome, not an attitude.
Before you go
Remember this
Use adverse for an unfavourable situation, effect, or result. Use averse for a person's or group's dislike or reluctance, usually with to. Ask whether the sentence is about a negative condition or an attitude toward it.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
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Try the written questionsQuestions about "Adverse or averse: conditions, feelings, and sentence patterns"
What is the difference between adverse and averse?
Adverse means harmful or unfavourable and usually describes a condition, effect, or outcome. Averse means unwilling or opposed and describes an attitude. Heavy rain created adverse conditions for the outdoor event describes the situation, while averse to attending describes the visitors' reluctance.
Heavy rain created adverse conditions for the outdoor event.
How do I use adverse in a sentence?
Adverse usually comes before a noun. You can write adverse conditions, adverse effects, adverse publicity, or an adverse reaction. In The medicine caused an adverse reaction in one patient, adverse describes the unwanted reaction.
Heavy rain made several visitors averse to attending the outdoor event.
What comes after averse?
Averse is usually followed by to plus a noun or an -ing form. Rina is averse to borrowing money from friends uses an -ing form. You can also say that someone is averse to change or averse to late-night noise.
The medicine caused an adverse reaction in one patient.
Can averse describe a situation?
No. Averse describes a person or group's dislike, opposition, or reluctance. The committee was averse to making a decision without the full report describes the committee's attitude. For a negative situation or result, use adverse.
One patient was averse to taking the medicine after a previous bad experience.
What does risk-averse mean?
Risk-averse means preferring to avoid risk. It describes an attitude to taking risks, so it uses averse. By contrast, adverse effects are negative consequences that may result from an action or condition.
The company faced adverse publicity after the product recall.
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