Which to use
“allein” and “alten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #391
- “allein” frequency rank
- #416
- “alten” frequency rank
- 807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allein | alten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | für sich, getrennt, einsam, einzeln sein; nur; ohne Beistand, Zeugen, Anwesenheit von anderen Personen, ohne Hilfe sein | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt |
Where the eye mixes allein and alten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: allein vs alten
A purely visual mix-up. allein ([aˈlaɪ̯n]) and alten ([ˈaltn̩]) 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 807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allein is recorded at frequency rank #391, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯n]. alten is at rank #416, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaltn̩].
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 807, this pair ranks #2,005,314 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of allein vs alten
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "allein": i. Private to "alten": t.
"allein" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "alten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "allein" and "alten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "allein" or "alten"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "allein" and "alten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "allein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,314 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allein" and "alten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Alleen vs alten". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #2,005,314 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.