alleinevsallenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alleine is a adjective, allen is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alleine” is an adjective and “allen” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#946
“alleine” frequency rank
#276
“allen” frequency rank
1222
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alleine allen
Definition nicht dekliniert, allein; für sich, ohne weitere Person Dativ Plural des Indefinitpronomens all

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
alleine
5 ch
allen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

alleine and allen form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alleine is recorded at frequency rank #946, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈlaɪ̯nə]. allen is at rank #276, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈalən].

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 1222, this pair ranks #2,004,711 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

alleine#946
allen#276

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alleine" and "allen" be used interchangeably?
No, "alleine" and "allen" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering alleine vs allen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “alleine”; for an unknown, it's “allen”.
  • 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