Meaning & use
innate abilities
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
Natural talents or capacities that a person or animal has from birth rather than learns.
Grammar: Always plural; use with plural verbs: 'Innate abilities are...'. The singular 'innate ability' is also common.
Patterns
- innate abilities in something
- have innate abilities
- possess innate abilities
Some researchers believe that language is one of the innate abilities of humans.
Her innate abilities in music were obvious even before she had any formal training.
The study compared the innate abilities of human babies with those of young chimpanzees.
Word forms
| singular | innate ability |
|---|
Common combinations
- possess innate abilities
- All normal human infants possess innate abilities for learning language.
- innate abilities in a subject
- He showed innate abilities in mathematics from a very early age.
- develop innate abilities
- Good teachers help students develop their innate abilities.
- test innate abilities
- The experiment was designed to test the innate abilities of newborn babies.
Synonyms and how they differ
- natural talents
- Very close in meaning, but 'natural talents' is more common in everyday speech and often refers to specific skills like singing or sports.
- inborn capacities
- More formal and technical; 'capacities' suggests potential rather than developed skill.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: innate abilities or inherent abilities?
innate abilities vs inherent abilities
'Inherent' means existing as a permanent part of something, not necessarily from birth; 'innate' specifically means from birth.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'innate abilities' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The correct answer is B because 'innate abilities' are natural talents present from birth, not learned. An is wrong because learning implies the ability is not innate. C is wrong because practice improves learned skills, not innate ones. D is wrong because innate abilities are not taught.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “innate abilities”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.