Adress or Address? What Is the Correct Spelling?

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In English, there are plenty of words with double letters, such as ‘success’ having two c’s and s’s. However, there’s a word that’s commonly misspelled with one letter instead of the double letter. This word is address, and it’s misspelled as ‘adress’.

The correct spelling of address is with two d’s: address. Any other spelling of the word is incorrect. Do not, under any circumstance, spell address as anything else.

On formal documents, if you spell address as ‘adress’, you’ll come off as unprofessional. Be sure to double check your spelling for all words, but address in particular.

The rest of this article will cover why adress is wrong, and why address is right.

Why Adress Is Wrong

If you were to type ‘adress’ into a Google document, you’d see the red squiggly line telling you it’s wrong. It’ll point you toward ‘address’ instead. It can get confusing to differentiate why some words get ‘add’ (like address), and others get ‘ad’ (like advertisement).

The reason why it’s spelled with two d’s is because of the stress you put on certain syllables. In British English, the stress is put on the second d. In American English, it’s put on the first d. English varies, but the double d in address still exists in both British and American English.

Lastly, people get address confused with the French word for address. In French, the word is spelled with only one d. This word is: adresse. However, ignore that spelling. Spelling address as adress sounds more like ‘a dress’, which is a word you should avoid.

Why Address Is Right

Address is a common word. You see it online when you’re ordering off of Amazon, on packages you receive, on applications, and so much more. So why is it so misspelled? There’s actually a valid reason for this, and it has to do with the Macmillan Dictionary.

If you were to look in the Macmillan Dictionary, you’d find 200 words beginning with the letters ‘ad’. However, only 23 of these 200 words have ‘add’. That means the ‘add’ words are much rarer. This is why people get adress and address confused all the time.

Address is the correct spelling because of the syllable stress, as mentioned previously. Without the added stress on the d’s, address would become ‘a dress’. That’s why you need to have the second d in there. It’s important for pronunciation.

Conor
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