Which to use
“able” and “alt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,552
- “able” frequency rank
- #595
- “alt” frequency rank
- 39147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | able | alt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in der Lage sein; etwas tun können | vor langer Zeit gemacht, geschehen oder gewesen |
Where the eye mixes able and alt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses able with alt
A purely visual mix-up. able ([ˈeɪbl]) and alt ([alt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39147, 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]. alt is at rank #595, tagged as anadj, pronounced [alt].
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 39147, this pair ranks #1,544,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of able vs alt
Shared letters: al. Private to "able": be. Private to "alt": t.
"able" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "alt" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- able ← abble · ablle · albe · bale
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "able" for "alt" ever safe?
Frequency check: "able" vs "alt" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "alt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,544,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "able" and "alt" 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 #1,544,834 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.