adaptavsadoptanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“adapta” and “adoptan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,023
“adapta” frequency rank
#18,431
“adoptan” frequency rank
35454
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adapta adoptan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de adaptar o de adaptarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de adoptar.

Where the eye mixes adapta and adoptan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
adapta
7 ch
adoptan

Visual trap between adapta and adoptan

A purely visual mix-up. adapta ([aˈð̞apt̪a]) and adoptan ([aˈð̞opt̪ãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35454, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adapta is recorded at frequency rank #17,023, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞apt̪a]. adoptan is at rank #18,431, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞opt̪ãn].

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 35454, this pair ranks #186,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of adapta vs adoptan

Shared letters: adpt. Private to "adapta": -. Private to "adoptan": no.

"adapta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "adoptan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adaptaaadpta · adapat · adappta · adaptta · adatpa · addapta · adpata · daapta
  • adoptanaddoptan · adopatn · adopptan · adoptann · adoptna · adopttan · adotpan · adpotan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adapta" for "adoptan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈð̞apt̪a] versus [aˈð̞opt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "adapta" vs "adoptan" - which ranks higher?
"adapta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,023 in our Spanish list, against #18,431 for "adoptan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adapta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adoptan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #186,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adapta" and "adoptan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adapten vs adoptan". 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 #186,009 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list