Which to use
“allen” is an unknown and “allzu” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #276
- “allen” frequency rank
- #3,294
- “allzu” frequency rank
- 3570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allen | allzu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Indefinitpronomens all | verstärktes zu; zu sehr, in zu hohem Grade |
Where the eye mixes allen and allzu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: allen is [ˈalən] while allzu is [ˈalt͡suː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allen is recorded at frequency rank #276, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈalən]. allzu is at rank #3,294, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈalt͡suː].
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 3570, this pair ranks #1,999,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of allen vs allzu
Shared letters: al. Private to "allen": en. Private to "allzu": uz.
"allen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "allzu" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV