Which to use
“adding” is a verb and “ageing” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,140
- “adding” frequency rank
- #16,172
- “ageing” frequency rank
- 18312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adding | ageing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of add | UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa standard spelling of aging. |
Letter map: adding vs ageing
Shared letters muted; letters that set adding and ageing apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: adding vs ageing
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: adding is averb and ageinganadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adding is recorded at frequency rank #2,140, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈæ.dɪŋ/. ageing is at rank #16,172, tagged as anadj.
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 18312, this pair ranks #445,727 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adding vs ageing
Shared letters: agin. Private to "adding": d. Private to "ageing": e.
"adding" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "ageing" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adding" for "ageing" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "adding" or "ageing" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "adding" and "ageing". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "adding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ageing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #445,727 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adding" and "ageing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ageing vs awning". 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 #445,727 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.