alleinvsalpinWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“allein” and “alpin” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#391
“allein” frequency rank
#25,435
“alpin” frequency rank
25826
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature allein alpin
Definition für sich, getrennt, einsam, einzeln sein; nur; ohne Beistand, Zeugen, Anwesenheit von anderen Personen, ohne Hilfe sein die Alpen betreffend, auf sie bezogen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set allein and alpin apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
allein
5 ch
alpin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. allein ([aˈlaɪ̯n]) and alpin ([alˈpiːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

allein is recorded at frequency rank #391, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯n]. alpin is at rank #25,435, tagged as anadj, pronounced [alˈpiːn].

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 25826, this pair ranks #1,827,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of allein vs alpin

Shared letters: ailn. Private to "allein": e. Private to "alpin": p.

"allein" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "alpin" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alleinalein · alelin · alleinn · alleni · allien · lalein
  • alpinalipn · allpin · alpinn · alpni · alppin · aplin · lapin

Frequency comparison

allein#391
alpin#25,435

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "allein" and "alpin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaɪ̯n] versus [alˈpiːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "allein" or "alpin"?
"allein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #391 in our German list, against #25,435 for "alpin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering allein vs alpin

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 “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