aber vs Ämter, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“aber” is a conjunction and “Ämter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31
“aber” frequency rank: #9,489
“Ämter” frequency rank: 9520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	aber	Ämter
Definition	jedoch, dagegen	Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Amt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aber and Ämter apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

aber

5 ch

Ämter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aber is [ˈaːbɐ] while Ämter is [ˈɛmtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aber is recorded at frequency rank #31, classified as aconj, pronounced [ˈaːbɐ]. Ämter is at rank #9,489, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛmtɐ].

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 9520, this pair ranks #1,979,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aber vs Ämter

Shared letters: er. Private to "aber": ab. Private to "Ämter": mtä.

"aber" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "Ämter" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

aber ← abber · aberr · abre · aebr · baer

Frequency comparison

aber#31

Ämter#9,489

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aber" and "Ämter" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aber" is a conjunction and "Ämter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "aber" or "Ämter"?

"aber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31 in our German list, against #9,489 for "Ämter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering aber vs Ämter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “aber”; for a noun, it's “Ämter”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aber” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable