The verbs rectify and ratify have different meanings, despite the similarity in writing and in the way they are spoken. Thus, rectifying can mean aligning, tidying, correcting, purifying distilled liquid, transforming a type of current electrical in another and measuring a curvature, while ratifying can be understood as confirming, authenticating, proving, corroborating and reaffirm.
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Rectify and ratify: common points
First of all, we must know that rectify and ratify are verbs, that is, words that express an action situated in time. In view of this, they can take many forms, be them nominal (infinitive, gerund, participle), are conjugated. These change according to the number (singular and plural), with the sender and receiver of the message (I, you or you, he, we, you, them), with the mode (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) and with time (past, present and future).
We realized, then, that the word rectify can be written and spoken in different ways - rectified, rectify, rectifying, will rectify, we would rectify
– and it can also originate words from different classes, such as the rectification noun. The same case occurs with the term ratify, which can be found in the most diverse configurations, such as ratified, we will ratify, ratify, ratification.Despite the variation explained above, it is important to keep in mind that the inflected forms of these verbs, like all others, carry the same senses, and the derivatives – for example, rectification and ratification (nouns) – have a close relation of meaning with the verbs that originated them.
What is rectifying?
Let's see below the different meanings that the word rectify can take:
1. align, put something straight
- Mário, rectify the columns contained in the project of Maria's house.
- Jorge rectified all the sticks in the game.
2. correct, amend
- In the last edition of the book, the author rectified some issues.
- The judge, by rectifying the sentence, created insecurity for the parties.
3. compose, fix
- Girl, fix your dress!
- The shirt could have been better straightened.
4. Distill liquid again, purify it
- The Romanov brand rectifies the alcohol in its vodkas.
- Gisele, did you know that whiskey is the most rectified drink at the party?
5. Change from alternating to direct current (postulates from physics about electricity)
It is necessary to rectify the electrical current in the house.
6. Establishing the length of a curvilinear arc (geometry)
Amanda, rectify the Lapa arches, as we will use the measurements for the construction of the bridge over the Amazon River.
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What is to ratify?
Since we already know what the meanings of rectify are, let us now find out what meanings the verb ratify carries.
1. confirm, authenticate
- The trade agreement between Brazil and China was ratified by the President of the Republic.
- Today I ratified my signature at the registry office.
2. Check, corroborate
- The evidence present at the scene confirmed that the perpetrator has feet of size 42.
- What I told you confirms the fact that they're not okay.
3. Reaffirm
Helena ratified so many times that this would happen.
Paronyms vs. synonyms
Despite the great similarity both from a graphic point of view, that is, from the writing, and from the phonetic point of view, that is, from the sounds present in speech, ratify does not mean to rectify, and the explanation for this lies in the fact that they are terms paronyms, not synonyms. Therefore, it is necessary to comment briefly on what is paronymy and synonymy.
The first concerns the words that are formally (written and sound) similar, but not necessarily have similar meanings. Example: dandhurt (answer a request) X dihurt (to postpone).
The second already refers to terms that have a approximation of meaning, but they can even be very different in terms of structure. Example: put and put, whose meanings are to accommodate something somewhere, but are written and verbalized quite differently.
After this brief classification differentiation, solve the following exercises in order to test your knowledge on the subject of this text.
solved exercises
question 1 - Observe the following excerpt from the short story “Anecdo do Cabriolet”, by Machado de Assis:
“In the parish, everyone loved him, because he didn't entangle or curse. He had a love of art for art. Often there was no need to ask anything. José told him the life of Antônio and Antônio, José. what he did was ratify or rectify one with the other, and the two with Sancho, Sancho with Martinho, and vice versa, everyone with everyone.”
After reading the excerpt, mark the correct alternative regarding the meanings of the words ratify and rectify in the narrative:
a) reaffirm and compose;
b) check and align;
c) confirm and distil liquid;
d) corroborate and correct;
e) authenticate and change alternating current to direct current.
Resolution:
Alternative “d”, because the character so often used José to corroborate / prove Antônio's precepts, and vice versa, when she used the word of one to correct the other.
question 2 – Read the following sentences and fill in the blanks.
I – João's calculations were not correct, so the teacher asked him to _________. (ratify/rectify)
II – In view of the results of the exams, which attested to the presence of breast cancer in Sofia, the physician ___________ the need to start treatment immediately. (ratified/rectified)
III - Joaquina should _________ a proper outfit to go to the party. (ratify/rectify)
The alternative that correctly fills in the above gaps is:
a) ratify, rectify, rectify;
b) rectify, rectify, rectify;
c) rectify, ratify, rectify;
d) ratify; ratified, ratified;
Resolution: aAlternative C.
I – Rectify in order to correct.
II – Ratify in order to confirm.
III – Rectify in the sense of composing, arranging.
By Diogo Berquó
Portuguese teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/ratificar-retificar.htm
