AdaptionvsadditionTell them apart

Which to use

“Adaption” and “addition” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,404
“Adaption” frequency rank
#26,734
“addition” frequency rank
50138
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adaption addition
Definition Anpassung oder Anpassungsvermögen Addition

Where the eye mixes Adaption and addition

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Adaption
8 ch
addition

Look-alike desk: Adaption vs addition

A purely visual mix-up. Adaption ([adapˈt͡si̯oːn]) and addition ([əˈdɪʃn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adaption is recorded at frequency rank #23,404, classified as anoun, pronounced [adapˈt͡si̯oːn]. addition is at rank #26,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced [əˈdɪʃn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 50138, this pair ranks #1,185,192 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Adaption vs addition

Shared letters: adinot. Private to "Adaption": p. Private to "addition": -.

"Adaption" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "addition" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adaptionaadption · adapiton · adapption · adaptino · adaptionn · adaptoin · adapttion · adatpion
  • additionaddiiton · additino · additionn · additoin · addittion · addtiion · adidtion · adition

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Adaption" and "addition" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([adapˈt͡si̯oːn] versus [əˈdɪʃn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Adaption" or "addition"?
"Adaption" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,404 in our German list, against #26,734 for "addition". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Adaption" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "addition" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,185,192 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Adaption" and "addition" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Adaption vs adaptive". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,185,192 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list