AlarmvsAwardWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Alarm
5 ch
Award

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • Alarmaalrm · alamr · alarmm · alarrm · allarm · alram · laarm
  • Awardaawrd · awadr · awardd · awarrd · awrad · awward · waard

Frequency comparison

Alarm#5,793
Award#6,636

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Alarm" and "Award" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaʁm] versus [əˈwɔːd]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Alarm" or "Award"?
"Alarm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,793 in our German list, against #6,636 for "Award". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Alarm vs Award

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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