AdelsvsadultWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Adels is a noun, adult is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Adels” is a noun and “adult” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,457
“Adels” frequency rank
#22,243
“adult” frequency rank
40700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adels adult
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Adel erwachsen, geschlechtsreif

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Adels and adult apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Adels
5 ch
adult

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Adels is [ˈaːdl̩s] while adult is [aˈdʊlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adels is recorded at frequency rank #18,457, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːdl̩s]. adult is at rank #22,243, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈdʊlt].

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 40700, this pair ranks #1,500,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Adels vs adult

Shared letters: adl. Private to "Adels": es. Private to "adult": tu.

"Adels" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "adult" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adelsaddels · adells · adelss · adesl · adles · aedls
  • adultaddult · adlut · adullt · adultt · adutl · audlt · dault

Frequency comparison

Adels#18,457
adult#22,243

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Adels" and "adult" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Adels" is a noun and "adult" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Adels" or "adult"?
"Adels" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,457 in our German list, against #22,243 for "adult". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Adels vs adult

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Adels”; for an adjective, it's “adult”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Adels” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list