alljährlichvsallmählichTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,649
“alljährlich” frequency rank
#6,500
“allmählich” frequency rank
19149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alljährlich allmählich
Definition jedes Jahr, jedes Jahr geschehend, jedes Jahr stattfindend langsam voranschreitend, in kleinen Schritten

Where the eye mixes alljährlich and allmählich

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. alljährlich runs 11 letters (VCCCVCCCVCC) against allmählich's 10 (VCCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
alljährlich
10 ch
allmählich

Look-alike desk: alljährlich vs allmählich

A purely visual mix-up. alljährlich ([ˈalˈjɛːɐ̯lɪç]) and allmählich ([alˈmɛːlɪç]) 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 19149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alljährlich is recorded at frequency rank #12,649, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈalˈjɛːɐ̯lɪç]. allmählich is at rank #6,500, tagged as anadj, pronounced [alˈmɛːlɪç].

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 19149, this pair ranks #1,911,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alljährlich vs allmählich

Shared letters: achilä. Private to "alljährlich": jr. Private to "allmählich": m.

"alljährlich" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "allmählich" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alljährlich" and "allmählich" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈalˈjɛːɐ̯lɪç] versus [alˈmɛːlɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alljährlich" vs "allmählich" - which ranks higher?
"allmählich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,500 in our German list, against #12,649 for "alljährlich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alljährlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "allmählich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,911,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alljährlich" and "allmählich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alljährlich vs alljährliche". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,911,350 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list