Adress vs. address: which of these spellings do you think is acceptable in the English language? One of the two words is correct, while the other is not. Let’s answer that in summary below.
An address refers to “the direction or superscription of a letter, name, title, and place of residence of the person mentioned.” “Address” also refers to talking to yourself, a person, a group, or to mean speech. In contrast, adress is a misspelling of the word address.
Even the best English speakers can get confused about proper spellings. For this reason, words like adress and address require much attention. This article explains the meaning, usage, and differences between the words address and adress.
Definitions Of Adress And Address
Adress and address are among the most common words that people confuse all the time. The definitions below will have you know the word you should give the desired attention:
Definitions Of Adress
It is a misspelling of adress. Therefore, it is an incorrect word and is not found in any dictionary.
Definitions Of Address
An address is “a direction or superscription of a letter.” An address contains the name, title, and place of residence of the person to whom a letter is written.
An address also means “the place or the name of a place where you can locate or contact a person or an organization.”
Another meaning is “the act of addressing or directing a speech or discourse to a group or a person.” For example, to address a crowd.
In linguistics, address refers to a manner of speaking to someone or a group or the delivery of a speech or discourse—for example, a stern address.
An ordinary meaning of address is “a description of the location of a property, containing the street name and number.” For example, “What is your address?” By extension, an address also refers to the property in the said location. For example, “We visited the address, but nobody was there.”
In computing, an address is “a location in computer memory.” It refers to “an internet address, also called an URL.” Also, an address is “a set of characters designating an email account,” an email address.
Another source refers to the address as “skillful and expeditious management.” For example, handling an issue with “address” means being expeditious.
In government contexts, an address is a request to the executive by the legislature to remove a judge for unfitness. In courtship or relationships, an address is “attention paid by a suitor to a lover.”
As a verb, address means:
- To direct a speech or a written statement to a crowd
- To use a specified title in writing or speaking
- To direct something to the attention
- To deal with
- To trust in the care of another (commerce)
- To discuss
- To put delivery directions on
How To Properly Use Adress And Address In A Sentence
From the section above, you can confidently say that the correct word is address, and adress is a misspelled word. Now let us look at how you can have these words in sentences:
How To Use The Word Adress
This is an incorrect word. Therefore, you should avoid using it, irrespective of how tempting it gets. Using misspelled words in sentences makes your context incorrect.
How To Use The Word Address
The word address is a noun. So, you can use it in a sentence to mean:
- A place where an organization is situated or a person lives
- A formal speech delivered to a crowd or an audience
- Written particulars on an envelope describing a place or an organization
- The way a person conducts themselves relative to social norms
- A sign of welcome or a kind recognition
- Characteristics that identify an internet identity
- An internet address
- A redefined appreciation or understanding of culture
Note that it is a countable noun whose plural is “addresses.”
This word is also a verb. A verb denotes an action. So, use this verb in a sentence to denote the following actions:
- To contact or communicate with
- To speak at a formal gathering
- To devote to something
- To inscribe an address on an envelope or a letter
- To greet formally
- To pay attention to or fix attention to
- To direct or be in charge of
- To put it in writing
As a verb, this word has a past tense. The past tense of address is “addressed.” Its present continuous form is “addressing.”
Why Is Adress The Wrong Spelling?
Spelling refers to an accepted order of letters that form a word. The word adress is an incorrect spelling because it is not formally accepted. You can tell if a spelling is accepted by its presence in the dictionary. The dictionary is a reference work containing words and their definitions ranked in alphabetical order.
The English dictionary often changes because some words get added all the time. For instance, the word selfie just recently made it onto the pages of the dictionary. So, you can tell adress is incorrect because it does not appear in the dictionary.
Additionally, adress is the wrong spelling because its origin and etymology are unknown. There are no formal records regarding this word’s history or etymology.
Adress vs. Address: Two Differences That Are Easy To Tell
These words show a lot of closeness. For instance, they have very similar pronunciations. The correct way to pronounce these words is “/uh-dres/.” Here are some easy differences you can note about these words:
The Spelling
The most prevalent difference between these words is their spelling. One word has an extra “d,” while the other only has one. The correct word has an extra “d.” So, the fact that one word is correct and the other is not will make a big difference.
Usage And Popularity
The word “address” is more common than the latter because of its correctness. Studies show that more than half of the global English-speaking population uses this spelling, which is understandable because it is the correct form.
List Of Examples Of Adress And Address Use In Sentences
At this point, you should have an answer to the question at the beginning of this article. Here are some example sentences to show you how you can use these words in various contexts:
Example sentences of the word adress
- My mother called a family meeting to adress the issue causing strife between my siblings. (INCORRECT)
- Jimmy wrote the wrong adress on the letter. (INCORRECT)
- I got so nervous when my teacher asked me to adress the class. (INCORRECT)
- My email adress is too long to write on such a small piece of paper. (INCORRECT)
- The employers asked my manager to send them my adress and phone number. (INCORRECT)
Example sentences of the word address
- The guests arrived late because they had the wrong address at first.
- The vice president granted the supervisors permission to address the board.
- David does not know the party’s address because Daniella did not invite him.
- Hellen almost had a heart attack when the professor asked her to address the school’s vice chancellor without prior notice.
- I will address the congregation after the speaker leaves so we can get into more personal matters.
Conclusion
“Adress” is an incorrect spelling of the word “address.” In contrast, the term “address” has multiple definitions, as explained in this article. Therefore, you should always use the correct spelling in writing.
While you may get by using incorrect spellings while texting or on social media captions, when writing letters, academic or professional documents, articles, and other formal writings, incorrect spelling will cost you, therefore, before writing, be keen on spelling and word definitions.
Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of The Content Authority. He’s one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. You don’t even want to know what he calls pancakes.