additionvsauditionWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“addition” and “audition” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,776
“addition” frequency rank
#7,528
“audition” frequency rank
17304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature addition audition
Definition Action d’ajouter. Action d’entendre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set addition and audition apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
addition
8 ch
audition

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. addition (\a.di.sjɔ̃\) and audition (\o.di.sjɔ̃\) 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 - d in “addition” becomes u in “audition”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

addition is recorded at frequency rank #9,776, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.di.sjɔ̃\. audition is at rank #7,528, tagged as anoun, pronounced \o.di.sjɔ̃\.

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 17304, this pair ranks #383,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of addition vs audition

Shared letters: adinot. Private to "addition": -. Private to "audition": u.

"addition" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC  ·  "audition" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • additionaddiiton · additino · additionn · additoin · addittion · addtiion · adidtion · adition
  • auditionaduition · auddition · audiiton · auditino · auditionn · auditoin · audittion · audtiion

Frequency comparison

addition#9,776
audition#7,528

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "addition" and "audition" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.di.sjɔ̃\ versus \o.di.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "addition" or "audition"?
"audition" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,528 in our French list, against #9,776 for "addition". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering addition vs audition

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “addition” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list