Which to use
“adaptable” is an adjective and “adaptarse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,702
- “adaptable” frequency rank
- #9,391
- “adaptarse” frequency rank
- 55093
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adaptable | adaptarse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que se puede adaptar o adecuar; capaz de ser adaptado. | Hacerse apto. Modificarse para cumplir cierto objetivo, o para corresponderse con otra cosa. |
Where the eye mixes adaptable and adaptarse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses adaptable with adaptarse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: adaptable is [að̞apˈt̪aβ̞le] while adaptarse is [að̞apˈt̪aɾse]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adaptable is recorded at frequency rank #45,702, classified as anadj, pronounced [að̞apˈt̪aβ̞le]. adaptarse is at rank #9,391, tagged as averb, pronounced [að̞apˈt̪aɾse].
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 55093, this pair ranks #80,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of adaptable vs adaptarse
Shared letters: adept. Private to "adaptable": bl. Private to "adaptarse": rs.
"adaptable" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV · "adaptarse" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adaptable" for "adaptarse" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "adaptable" or "adaptarse" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "adaptable" and "adaptarse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "adaptable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adaptarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #80,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adaptable" and "adaptarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adaptaron vs adaptarse". 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 #80,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.