alla vs alles, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“alla” is a determiner and “alles” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,004
“alla” frequency rank: #97
“alles” frequency rank: 23101
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	alla	alles
Definition	Zusammensetzung der Präposition a und dem Artikel la	Genitiv Singular Maskulinum des Indefinitpronomens all

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

alla

5 ch

alles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: alla is adeterminer and allesapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alla is recorded at frequency rank #23,004, classified as adet, pronounced […]. alles is at rank #97, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈaləs].

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 23101, this pair ranks #1,865,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alla vs alles

Shared letters: al. Private to "alla": -. Private to "alles": es.

"alla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "alles" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

alla ← alal
alles ← alels · ales · alless · allse · lales

Frequency comparison

alla#23,004

alles#97

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alla" and "alles" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alla" is a determiner and "alles" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "alla" or "alles"?

"alles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #97 in our German list, against #23,004 for "alla". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering alla vs alles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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