alleinvsallzeitWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: allein is a adjective, allzeit is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“allein” is an adjective and “allzeit” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#391
“allein” frequency rank
#31,418
“allzeit” frequency rank
31809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature allein allzeit
Definition für sich, getrennt, einsam, einzeln sein; nur; ohne Beistand, Zeugen, Anwesenheit von anderen Personen, ohne Hilfe sein zu jeder Zeit

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set allein and allzeit apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
allein
7 ch
allzeit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: allein is [aˈlaɪ̯n] while allzeit is [ˈalt͡saɪ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

allein is recorded at frequency rank #391, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯n]. allzeit is at rank #31,418, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈalt͡saɪ̯t].

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 31809, this pair ranks #1,720,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of allein vs allzeit

Shared letters: aeil. Private to "allein": n. Private to "allzeit": tz.

"allein" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "allzeit" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alleinalein · alelin · alleinn · alleni · allien · lalein
  • allzeitallezit · allzeitt · allzeti · allziet · allzzeit · alzeit · alzleit · lalzeit

Frequency comparison

allein#391
allzeit#31,418

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "allein" and "allzeit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "allein" is an adjective and "allzeit" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "allein" or "allzeit"?
"allein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #391 in our German list, against #31,418 for "allzeit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering allein vs allzeit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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