adultvsautWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: adult is a adjective, aut is a conjunction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#22,243
“adult” frequency rank
#20,843
“aut” frequency rank
43086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adult aut
Definition erwachsen, geschlechtsreif einen Unterschied anzeigend; oder

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
adult
3 ch
aut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: adult is anadjective and autaconjunction. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adult is recorded at frequency rank #22,243, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈdʊlt]. aut is at rank #20,843, tagged as aconj.

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 43086, this pair ranks #1,429,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of adult vs aut

Shared letters: atu. Private to "adult": dl. Private to "aut": -.

"adult" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "aut" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adultaddult · adlut · adullt · adultt · adutl · audlt · dault

Frequency comparison

adult#22,243
aut#20,843

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "adult" and "aut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "adult" is an adjective and "aut" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "adult" or "aut"?
"aut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,843 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 adult vs aut

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “adult”; for a conjunction, it's “aut”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “adult” 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