Meaning & use
prospective
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Likely or hoped to become something in the future, used before a noun.
Grammar: Always before a noun: a prospective buyer.
Patterns
- a prospective buyer
- prospective customers
Prospective students toured the campus.
The house has three prospective buyers.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Looking forward, or concerning future events.
Grammar: Technical: a prospective study follows people forward in time.
Patterns
- a prospective study
The researchers ran a prospective study over ten years.
The law has a prospective effect, not a backward one.
Common combinations
- prospective buyer
- A prospective buyer called today.
- prospective employer
- Dress well for a prospective employer.
- prospective student
- The college welcomed prospective students.
- prospective candidate
- The party met a prospective candidate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- potential
- More general; may be used with things too.
- likely
- Describes probability, not a future role.
- future
- Plainer, with no sense of being a candidate.
Opposites
Word family
- prospect noun
- a possibility or likely future
- prospectively adverb
- looking forward in time
Commonly confused: prospective or perspective? prospective or prospectus?
prospective vs perspective
Perspective is a point of view, not a future role.
prospective vs prospectus
A prospectus is a document describing a school or investment.
Practice
The agent showed the apartment to several ___ tenants.
Choose one answer.
Prospective tenants may rent in the future. Perspective is a view and would not modify tenants.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prospective”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.