Which to use
“able” is an adjective and “alm” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,552
- “able” frequency rank
- #15,549
- “alm” frequency rank
- 54101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | able | alm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in der Lage sein; etwas tun können | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs almen |
Where the eye mixes able and alm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: able vs alm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: able is [ˈeɪbl] while alm is [ˈalm]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54101, 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]. alm is at rank #15,549, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈalm].
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 54101, this pair ranks #1,032,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of able vs alm
Shared letters: al. Private to "able": be. Private to "alm": m.
"able" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "alm" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- able ← abble · ablle · albe · bale
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "able" and "alm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "able" or "alm"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "able" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,032,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "able" and "alm" 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 #1,032,070 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.