alleinevsalleinigeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#946
“alleine” frequency rank
#14,231
“alleinige” frequency rank
15177
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alleine alleinige
Definition nicht dekliniert, allein; für sich, ohne weitere Person Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs alleinig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alleine and alleinige apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
alleine
9 ch
alleinige

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alleine ([aˈlaɪ̯nə]) and alleinige ([aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alleine is recorded at frequency rank #946, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯nə]. alleinige is at rank #14,231, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡə].

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 15177, this pair ranks #1,945,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alleine vs alleinige

Shared letters: aeiln. Private to "alleine": -. Private to "alleinige": g.

"alleine" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV  ·  "alleinige" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alleinealeine · aleline · alleien · alleinne · allenie · alliene · laleine
  • alleinigealeinige · alelinige · alleiinge · alleingie · alleinieg · alleinigge · alleinnige · alleniige

Frequency comparison

alleine#946
alleinige#14,231

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alleine" and "alleinige" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaɪ̯nə] versus [aˈlaɪ̯nɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alleine" or "alleinige"?
"alleine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #946 in our German list, against #14,231 for "alleinige". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering alleine vs alleinige

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 “alleine” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list