Which to use
“Alarm” is a noun and “alm” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,793
- “Alarm” frequency rank
- #15,549
- “alm” frequency rank
- 21342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Alarm | alm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zur Frühwarnung oder bei Eintritt eines Schadensereignisses erfolgender Ruf zur Bereitschaft oder zur Warnung vor Gefahr | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs almen |
Where the eye mixes Alarm and alm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Alarm runs 5 letters (VCVCC) against alm's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Alarm with alm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Alarm is [aˈlaʁm] while alm is [ˈalm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Alarm is recorded at frequency rank #5,793, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈlaʁm]. 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 21342, this pair ranks #1,887,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Alarm vs alm
Shared letters: alm. Private to "Alarm": r. Private to "alm": -.
"Alarm" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "alm" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Alarm ← aalrm · alamr · alarmm · alarrm · allarm · alram · laarm
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Alarm" for "alm" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Alarm" vs "alm" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Alarm" 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 #1,887,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Alarm" and "alm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alm vs AUD". 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 #1,887,410 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.