AlarmvsalmWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Alarm is a noun, alm is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Alarm and alm apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Alarm
3 ch
alm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • Alarmaalrm · alamr · alarmm · alarrm · allarm · alram · laarm

Frequency comparison

Alarm#5,793
alm#15,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Alarm" and "alm" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Alarm" is a noun and "alm" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Alarm" or "alm"?
"Alarm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,793 in our German list, against #15,549 for "alm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Alarm vs alm

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Alarm”; for a verb, it's “alm”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Alarm” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list