AdlervsalertTell them apart

Quick tell: Adler is a noun, alert is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Adler” is a noun and “alert” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,853
“Adler” frequency rank
#41,635
“alert” frequency rank
46488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adler alert
Definition mehrere verschiedene größere Raubvögel, Greifvögel aus der Familie der Habichtartigen munter, aufgeweckt, rege, frisch

Where the eye mixes Adler and alert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Adler
5 ch
alert

Why the eye confuses Adler with alert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Adler is [ˈaːdlɐ] while alert is [aˈlɛʁt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adler is recorded at frequency rank #4,853, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːdlɐ]. alert is at rank #41,635, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈlɛʁt].

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 46488, this pair ranks #1,317,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Adler vs alert

Shared letters: aelr. Private to "Adler": d. Private to "alert": t.

"Adler" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "alert" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adleraddler · adelr · adlerr · adller · adlre · alder · daler
  • alertaelrt · alerrt · alertt · allert · alret · laert

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Adler" and "alert" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Adler" is a noun and "alert" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Adler" vs "alert" - which ranks higher?
"Adler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,853 in our German list, against #41,635 for "alert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Adler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,317,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Adler" and "alert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alert vs apart". 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 #1,317,350 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list