ale vs allem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ale” is a noun and “allem” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,606
“ale” frequency rank: #239
“allem” frequency rank: 22845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ale	allem
Definition	Ale	maskuliner und neutraler Dativ Singular des Indefinitpronomens alle

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

ale

5 ch

allem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ale is anoun and allemanunknown. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ale is recorded at frequency rank #22,606, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. allem is at rank #239, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈaləm].

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 22845, this pair ranks #1,868,994 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ale vs allem

Shared letters: ael. Private to "ale": -. Private to "allem": m.

"ale" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "allem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

allem ← alelm · alem · allemm · allme · lalem

Frequency comparison

ale#22,606

allem#239

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ale" and "allem" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ale" is a noun and "allem" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ale" or "allem"?

"allem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #239 in our German list, against #22,606 for "ale". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ale vs allem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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