Which to use
“able” is an adjective and “allem” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,552
- “able” frequency rank
- #239
- “allem” frequency rank
- 38791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | able | allem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in der Lage sein; etwas tun können | maskuliner und neutraler Dativ Singular des Indefinitpronomens alle |
Where the eye mixes able and allem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. able runs 4 letters (VCCV) against allem's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between able and allem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: able is [ˈeɪbl] while allem is [ˈaləm]. 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 (adjective vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
able is recorded at frequency rank #38,552, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeɪbl]. allem is at rank #239, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈaləm].
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 38791, this pair ranks #1,554,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of able vs allem
Shared letters: ael. Private to "able": b. Private to "allem": m.
"able" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "allem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "able" and "allem" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "able" vs "allem" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "able" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "allem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,554,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "able" and "allem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "able vs Atze". 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 #1,554,513 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.