adaptanvsadaptenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,081
“adaptan” frequency rank
#49,383
“adapten” frequency rank
76464
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adaptan adapten
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 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 subjuntivo de adaptar o de adaptarse.

Where the eye mixes adaptan and adapten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
adaptan
7 ch
adapten

Look-alike desk: adaptan vs adapten

A purely visual mix-up. adaptan ([aˈð̞apt̪ãn]) and adapten ([aˈð̞apt̪ẽn]) 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 a single letter - a in “adaptan” becomes e in “adapten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adaptan is recorded at frequency rank #27,081, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞apt̪ãn]. adapten is at rank #49,383, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞apt̪ẽn].

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 76464, this pair ranks #17,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of adaptan vs adapten

Shared letters: adnpt. Private to "adaptan": -. Private to "adapten": e.

"adaptan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "adapten" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adaptanaadptan · adapatn · adapptan · adaptann · adaptna · adapttan · adatpan · addaptan
  • adaptenaadpten · adapetn · adappten · adaptenn · adaptne · adaptten · adatpen · addapten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adaptan" for "adapten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈð̞apt̪ãn] versus [aˈð̞apt̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adaptan" or "adapten"?
"adaptan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,081 in our Spanish list, against #49,383 for "adapten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adaptan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adapten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adaptan" and "adapten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adaptan vs apartan". 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 #17,725 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