View source for Interpretative - interpretive

AWE cannot do better than quote the on-line version of [[Modern English Usage]], ''s.v.'' 'interpretative':


'''interpretative''', interpretive.   The preferred form for this word meaning 'serving to interpret or explain' is ''interpretative'', on the analogy of ''authoritative'', ''qualitative'', and ''quantitative'':

'You may be wondering why I am rabbiting on about interpretative processes when the theme of this article is how to build a bracket clock',  ''Practical Woodworking'', 1990.

However, ''interpretive'' is about twice as common, perhaps reinforced by the natural tendency to articulate both words in this way in rapid speech:

'Chinese culture has undergone major interpretive phases in recent decades', ''Daedalus'', 1991.

[[category:academic English]]
[[category:usage]]