“Ad” or “Add”—Which to use?

“Ad” or “Add”

Overview

ad / add are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇

Definitions

ad: (noun) a public promotion of some product or service. (adverb) in the Christian era; used before dates after the supposed year Christ was born.

add: (verb) make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of. (verb) state or say further. (verb) make an addition by combining numbers. (verb) constitute an addition.

Pronunciation

ad: AE·d

add: AE·d

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Examples in Context

Examples of “ad”

Persuasio ad Pragenses de fide deviantes
Invectiva ad ingratum amicum
…5 Volumes, London, privately printed, 1875–94.
Instead, winning was likely to rely…
Ad detestationem belli Gallici et suasionem…
Invectiva ad invidum et detractorem
…sent her photos to the advertising agency DPZ, that placed her…
…the Shoku Nihongi of 711 AD.
…between approximately 1500 and 1820 A.D.
Red Shadows is an original science fiction…

Examples of “add”

…a decision was made to add a thermal infrared sensor (TIRS)…
Attributes allow to add metadata to a Gerber file.
…their literature as if to add gravitas.
…feel and setting of the game.
…extended with the option to add meta-information to the graphics objects.
…on the Wrangel Island will add to that.
…value of the contract to add leverage to the trade.
…Beverly Hills City Council to add the neighborhood to the city,…
…school in the US to add Sustainability Studies as an academic
…draftings of the legislation to add more emphasis on the "Reasonably"…

(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)

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