Is this word, or is it not, gramatically correct?

Question

A subordinate recently submitted a letter to me for approval containing the sentence, "this insurance plan is administrated by XYC Insurance Company." I questioned her use of "administrated," asking that she substitute the word "administered." She told me she thought I was wrong and referred me to MerriamWebster.com. Although the word "administrated" appears there as an inflected form of the word "administered," I told her that still doesn't mean it's grammatically correct in the sentence she wrote. Should I give her a mea culpa, or was I right?

Answer 1

Professionals in the field of business administration do not use the word "administrate". Please feel free to correct anyone who argues that "administer" is incorrect.
Even if as a result of its popular use "administrate" has been added to the dictionary along with "bootylicious", it still sounds just as stupid and incorrect as "irregardless". Stand your ground, I implore you!

My title is Corporate Administrator.
I am in charge of the company's administration.
I supervise all things administrative.
I administer multiple projects.

Answer 2

I personally prefer "administer" (and Webster's 1828 dictionary agrees and calls in "not well authorized"!) but, in fact, "administrate" is a very old variant (17th century) that is also correct. But if your colleague is saying "administer" is incorrect (rather than that either is acceptable), she is mistaken!

I had to hunt a bit, but finally found this helpful note on these verbs, from The Columbia Guide to Standard American English.

administrate, administer (vv.)

"Administrate is somewhat less frequently used than administer, perhaps because it is longer and sounds stuffier, but they are synonyms, and each is Standard in every respect. Some have faulted administrate as a back-formation (which would be no crime), but in fact it isn’t a back-formation at all; it just looks like one. Whereas administer was formed in the fourteenth century from the Latin infinitive administrare, administrate was formed in the seventeenth century from administratus, the past participle of administrare. Like administer, administrate is both transitive and intransitive."
http://www.bartleby.com/68/57/157.html

It is possible that this is partly a regional thing, though I cannot find such a pattern in this case -- compare how the British say "orientate" (a later 'back-formation' from "orientation") while Americans use the older form "orient".

Sometimes when there are such variants, they take slightly different uses (that is, at least one of them becomes more specialized). That may be happening with "administrate" and "administer", since the same people who say "administer the plan/program/medicine..." might also say "administrate Iraq". But that is not reflected in the dictionaries, at least not yet.

Answer 3

They are both ridiculous. The company issued the plan, they manage the plan, the cancel the plan, they raise the price of the plan, but administer/administrate? This is one of those dumb words that was invented to blur the line of both sexes and jobs.

Administrative Assistant - Secretary
Town Administrator - Mayor
School Administrator - Principal

You would do better to tell her to use real words and to say what she means. A Dictionary only reflects wide usage with a standardized meaning, not whether it is correct or wrong.

Answer 4

You were right. Just because it's in the MW dictionary does not make it good usage in any particular situation. Rather than debate whether "administrated" is right or wrong, the discussion should be about which word is better. Yours was the better choice, by far.

You do not owe her a mea culpa, but you might want to buy a few copies of "The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White, and hand them out to your staff. I did that many years ago, and saw immediate improvement in the quality of written material coming out of the work group. I also saw gratitude, in that they never had a boss before who tried to help them learn, rather than just be critical of what they did not do well.

Good luck.

Answer 5

in a medical setting, to administrate a medication would be to process the paperwork for it, something quite different from administering the med. I imagine this distinction could be found in other applications, too.

I think the supervisor is correct. Just how would one administer the policy, anyway?

Answer 6

What is grammatically correct and what is colloquially correct are two different things. You are right in saying that the word "administrated" sounds awkward in the sentence, even if it is technically correct. If it sounds wrong to you, it is likely to sound wrong to anyone else reading it (they won't take the time to look it up in the dictionary). Thus, in this case, I would side with you.

Answer 7

Administered would be preferable in a professional setting, although administrated sounds like something politicians and lawyers would say to sound unique and smart.

Answer 8

MW and other dictionaries go by usage, not necessarily by what is ideal. Your company should have a higher level of discourse in its communication than the minimum.

Don't apologize, but I hope there isn't lingering trouble here with that subordinate.

Answer 9

I would with administrated. If you questioned whether or not it was grammatically correct, then chances are that others who read it will too.

Answer 10

administer/administrate

To administrate means to manage or organize. A drug is administered, not administrated. Administration, however, is the noun of administer, which may lead to this common mistake.

avoid Gastric ulcers were induced in rats by administrating 20% acetic acid.
better Gastric ulcers were induced in rats by administering 20% acetic acid.


avoid IFN was self-administrated subcutaneously.
better IFN was self-administered subcutaneously.

http://www.inter-biotec.com/biowc/correctuse/correctuse.html