additionsvsadoptionsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,687
“additions” frequency rank
#48,895
“adoptions” frequency rank
85582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature additions adoptions
Definition Pluriel de addition. Pluriel de adoption.

Where the eye mixes additions and adoptions

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. additions (VCCVCVVCC) and adoptions (VCVCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
additions
9 ch
adoptions

Visual trap between additions and adoptions

A purely visual mix-up. additions (\a.di.sjɔ̃\) and adoptions (\a.dɔp.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

additions is recorded at frequency rank #36,687, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.di.sjɔ̃\. adoptions is at rank #48,895, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.dɔp.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 85582, this pair ranks #11,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of additions vs adoptions

Shared letters: adinost. Private to "additions": -. Private to "adoptions": p.

"additions" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVCC  ·  "adoptions" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • additionsaddiitons · additinos · additionns · additionss · additiosn · additoins · addittions · addtiions
  • adoptionsaddoptions · adopitons · adopptions · adoptinos · adoptionns · adoptionss · adoptiosn · adoptoins

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "additions" for "adoptions" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\a.di.sjɔ̃\ versus \a.dɔp.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "additions" or "adoptions"?
"additions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,687 in our French list, against #48,895 for "adoptions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "additions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adoptions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "additions" and "adoptions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adoptifs vs adoptions". 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 #11,091 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list