apavsapartWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,025
“apa” frequency rank
#47,947
“apart” frequency rank
62972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apa apart
Definition Säugetier aus der Unterordnung Anthropoidea in der Ordnung der Primaten; Affe aufgrund einer Eigenart, eines besonderen Reizes auffallend

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
apa
5 ch
apart

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apa is [ˈɑpɑ] while apart is [aˈpaʁt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “apa” sits inside “apart”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apa is recorded at frequency rank #15,025, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɑpɑ]. apart is at rank #47,947, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈpaʁt].

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 62972, this pair ranks #693,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apa vs apart

Shared letters: ap. Private to "apa": -. Private to "apart": rt.

"apa" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "apart" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apartaaprt · aparrt · apartt · apatr · appart

Frequency comparison

apa#15,025
apart#47,947

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apa" and "apart" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "apa" is a noun and "apart" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "apa" or "apart"?
"apa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,025 in our German list, against #47,947 for "apart". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering apa vs apart

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “apa”; for an adjective, it's “apart”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “apa” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list