Which to use
“addition” and “additions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,037
- “addition” frequency rank
- #9,557
- “additions” frequency rank
- 10594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | addition | additions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of adding anything. | plural of addition |
Where the eye mixes addition and additions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. addition runs 8 letters (VCCVCVVC) against additions's 9 (VCCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: addition vs additions
A purely visual mix-up. addition (/əˈdɪʃ.ən/) and additions (/əˈdɪʃənz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “addition” sits inside “additions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
addition is recorded at frequency rank #1,037, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈdɪʃ.ən/. additions is at rank #9,557, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈdɪʃənz/.
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 10594, this pair ranks #491,531 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of addition vs additions
Shared letters: adinot. Private to "addition": -. Private to "additions": s.
"addition" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "additions" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "addition" and "additions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "addition" vs "additions" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "addition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "additions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,531 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "addition" and "additions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adaption vs addition". 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 #491,531 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.