Which to use
“Alarm” and “Award” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,793
- “Alarm” frequency rank
- #6,636
- “Award” frequency rank
- 12429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Alarm | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zur Frühwarnung oder bei Eintritt eines Schadensereignisses erfolgender Ruf zur Bereitschaft oder zur Warnung vor Gefahr | Preis, der von einer Jury verliehen wird |
Where the eye mixes Alarm and Award
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Alarm and Award follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Alarm and Award
A purely visual mix-up. Alarm ([aˈlaʁm]) and Award ([əˈwɔːd]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12429, 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]. Award is at rank #6,636, tagged as anoun, pronounced [əˈwɔːd].
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 12429, this pair ranks #1,964,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Alarm vs Award
Shared letters: ar. Private to "Alarm": lm. Private to "Award": dw.
"Alarm" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "Award" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Alarm" for "Award" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Alarm" vs "Award" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Alarm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Award" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,964,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Alarm" and "Award" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apart vs Award". 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 #1,964,248 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.