aevsatmeConfusable pair

Which to use

“ae” and “atme” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,482
“ae” frequency rank
#26,758
“atme” frequency rank
46240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ae atme
Definition mit sanften Bewegungen der Hand auf etwas entlang gleiten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs atmen

Where the eye mixes ae and atme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
ae
4 ch
atme

Why the eye confuses ae with atme

A purely visual mix-up. ae ([ˈæːə]) and atme ([ˈaːtmə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ae is recorded at frequency rank #19,482, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈæːə]. atme is at rank #26,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaːtmə].

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 46240, this pair ranks #1,325,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ae vs atme

Shared letters: ae. Private to "ae": -. Private to "atme": mt.

"ae" · 2 letters · shape VV  ·  "atme" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atmeamte · atmme · attme · tame

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ae" and "atme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈæːə] versus [ˈaːtmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ae" or "atme" show up more?
"ae" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,482 in our German list, against #26,758 for "atme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "ae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,325,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ae" and "atme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atme 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 #1,325,900 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