albernvsÄmternWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: albern is a adjective, Ämtern is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“albern” is an adjective and “Ämtern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,585
“albern” frequency rank
#13,533
“Ämtern” frequency rank
25118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature albern Ämtern
Definition in unpassender und dummer Art lustig Dativ Plural des Substantivs Amt

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
albern
6 ch
Ämtern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: albern is [ˈalbɐn] while Ämtern is [ˈɛmtɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

albern is recorded at frequency rank #11,585, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈalbɐn]. Ämtern is at rank #13,533, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛmtɐn].

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 25118, this pair ranks #1,837,892 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of albern vs Ämtern

Shared letters: enr. Private to "albern": abl. Private to "Ämtern": mtä.

"albern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Ämtern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • albernablern · albbern · albenr · albernn · alberrn · albren · alebrn · allbern

Frequency comparison

albern#11,585
Ämtern#13,533

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "albern" and "Ämtern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "albern" is an adjective and "Ämtern" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "albern" or "Ämtern"?
"albern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,585 in our German list, against #13,533 for "Ämtern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering albern vs Ämtern

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “albern”; for a noun, it's “Ämtern”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “albern” 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