requisite and prerequisite

[Tedwonny]

Are they the same?

E.g.
Getting an A in English is a requisite/prerequisite for entering the course?

thanks

 

[bhaisahab]

Are they the same?

E.g.
Getting an A in English is a requisite/prerequisite for entering the course?

thanks

I'd say "An A in English is required for this course".

 

[White Hat]

Getting an A in English is a requirement for entering the course.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Prerequisite" is used in college course descriptions to name courses that must be taken prior to enrolling in a given course. e.g. for a Physics 200 course it would list Calculus 100 and Physics 100 as prerequisites.

 

[Tedwonny]

Thank you all

but could you share what the fine differences between the two words,please?

Are they synonymous?
Used interchangeably?

 

[BobSmith]

[not a teacher]

"Requisite" means "required", while "prerequisite" means "required before". They can be similar, but they have common uses that differentiate them.

Example:

Getting an A in English is a requisite for a good life in the U.S. (Not true!)

English 101 is a prerequisite for English 102. (Most certainly true!)

(In informal AmE, college prerequisites are often abbreviated as "prereqs". "What are the prereqs for English 101?")

 

[5jj]

Here is one attempt to show the difference: Difference Between Prerequisite and Requisite | Difference Between .

I suspect that many native speakers over-use prerequisite, but it doesn't appear to bother anybody.

 

[BobK]

Nearly* - in most contexts. But to my ear a prerequsite is something aimed for before getting something, whereas a requisite is something that had to be done. For example, nobody aims to get a Lifetime Award at the BAFTAs [at the beginning of their career]. So I would expect to see/hear/say 'A long career of workmanlike performances was a requisite for his Lifetime Award'. On the other hand prerequisite nearly always applies to academic grades.

But often they are interchangeable. I imagine the shorter one (without 'pre') came first, and it probably took a generation or two before language mavens stopped saying 'Don't you mean just requisite?' when they met the longer version. (A similar thing is happening with 'active' and 'proactive' at the moment.)

b

PS *Addressed to Tedwonny

 

[Tedwonny]

Nearly* - in most contexts. But to my ear a prerequsite is something aimed for before getting something, whereas a requisite is something that had to be done. For example, nobody aims to get a Lifetime Award at the BAFTAs [at the beginning of their career]. So I would expect to see/hear/say 'A long career of workmanlike performances was a requisite for his Lifetime Award'. On the other hand prerequisite nearly always applies to academic grades.

But often they are interchangeable. I imagine the shorter one (without 'pre') came first, and it probably took a generation or two before language mavens stopped saying 'Don't you mean just requisite?' when they met the longer version. (A similar thing is happening with 'active' and 'proactive' at the moment.)

b

PS *Addressed to Tedwonny

Thanks a lot!

Active is used in the general sense while proactive means that one TAKES THE INITIATIVE to do something, right?
Therefore one can be proactive [and active] but one who's active may not be proactive because they're only active when being invited, for example. ?

 

[SoothingDave]

Thanks a lot!

Active is used in the general sense while proactive means that one TAKES THE INITIATIVE to do something, right?
Therefore one can be proactive [and active] but one who's active may not be proactive because they're only active when being invited, for example. ?

"Proactive" is the opposite of being "reactive." In business, for example, where you will likely find 99% of the use of "proactive," a company that just responds to the crisis of the day is being "reactive." Customers call, complaints are made, problems are noted. The only action is in response to these complaints or problems.

A "proactive" company tries to anticipate what the problems are going to be and finds solutions before they have crises.

 

[BobK]

"Proactive" is the opposite of being "reactive." In business, for example, where you will likely find 99% of the use of "proactive," a company that just responds to the crisis of the day is being "reactive." Customers call, complaints are made, problems are noted. The only action is in response to these complaints or problems.

A "proactive" company tries to anticipate what the problems are going to be and finds solutions before they have crises.

This is all true, but there are still some speakers of Br Eng who raise an eyebrow when they hear 'proactive'; it's a neologism - and it seems to have 'bedded in' more in USA than in UK.

b

 

[SoothingDave]

It's definitely business jargon here in the US.

 

[BobK]

Here too, increasingly. ;-)

b