allemvsallemalWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: allem is a unknown, allemal is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“allem” is an unknown and “allemal” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#239
“allem” frequency rank
#10,033
“allemal” frequency rank
10272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature allem allemal
Definition maskuliner und neutraler Dativ Singular des Indefinitpronomens alle immer, jedes Mal

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
allem
7 ch
allemal

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: allem is [ˈaləm] while allemal is [ˈaləˌmaːl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “allem” sits inside “allemal”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

allem is recorded at frequency rank #239, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈaləm]. allemal is at rank #10,033, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈaləˌmaːl].

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 10272, this pair ranks #1,975,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of allem vs allemal

Shared letters: aelm. Private to "allem": -. Private to "allemal": -.

"allem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "allemal" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • allemalelm · alem · allemm · allme · lalem
  • allemalalelmal · alemal · alleaml · allemall · allemla · allemmal · allmeal · lalemal

Frequency comparison

allem#239
allemal#10,033

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "allem" and "allemal" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "allem" is an unknown and "allemal" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "allem" or "allemal"?
"allem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #239 in our German list, against #10,033 for "allemal". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering allem vs allemal

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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