adoptanvsadoptarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,431
“adoptan” frequency rank
#4,849
“adoptar” frequency rank
23280
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adoptan adoptar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de adoptar. Llevar a cabo una adopción, el acto de recibir a alguien en una relación de parentesco (como hijo o pariente propios), con los requisitos legales del caso.

Where the eye mixes adoptan and adoptar

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

7 ch
adoptan
7 ch
adoptar

Look-alike desk: adoptan vs adoptar

A purely visual mix-up. adoptan ([aˈð̞opt̪ãn]) and adoptar ([að̞opˈt̪aɾ]) 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 - n in “adoptan” becomes r in “adoptar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adoptan is recorded at frequency rank #18,431, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞opt̪ãn]. adoptar is at rank #4,849, tagged as averb, pronounced [að̞opˈt̪aɾ].

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 23280, this pair ranks #246,529 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of adoptan vs adoptar

Shared letters: adopt. Private to "adoptan": n. Private to "adoptar": r.

"adoptan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "adoptar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adoptanaddoptan · adopatn · adopptan · adoptann · adoptna · adopttan · adotpan · adpotan
  • adoptaraddoptar · adopatr · adopptar · adoptarr · adoptra · adopttar · adotpar · adpotar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "adoptan" and "adoptar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈð̞opt̪ãn] versus [að̞opˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adoptan" or "adoptar"?
"adoptar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,849 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "adoptan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adoptar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #246,529 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adoptan" and "adoptar" 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 #246,529 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