akutervsAlsterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: akuter is a adjective, Alster is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“akuter” is an adjective and “Alster” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,604
“akuter” frequency rank
#32,403
“Alster” frequency rank
55007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature akuter Alster
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs akut rechter Nebenfluss der Unterelbe

Where the eye mixes akuter and Alster

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. akuter (VCVCVC) and Alster (VCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
akuter
6 ch
Alster

Look-alike desk: akuter vs Alster

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: akuter is [aˈkuːtɐ] while Alster is [ˈalstɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

akuter is recorded at frequency rank #22,604, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈkuːtɐ]. Alster is at rank #32,403, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈalstɐ].

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 55007, this pair ranks #996,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of akuter vs Alster

Shared letters: aert. Private to "akuter": ku. Private to "Alster": ls.

"akuter" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "Alster" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • akuterakkuter · akuetr · akuterr · akutre · akutter · aukter · kauter
  • Alsterallster · alsetr · alsster · alsterr · alstre · alstter · altser · aslter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "akuter" for "Alster" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "akuter" is an adjective and "Alster" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "akuter" vs "Alster" - which ranks higher?
"akuter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,604 in our German list, against #32,403 for "Alster". 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 "akuter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Alster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #996,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "akuter" and "Alster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Alster vs Auster". 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 #996,353 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