AlmavsAmmeTell them apart

Quick tell: Alma is a name, Amme is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Alma” is a name and “Amme” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,795
“Alma” frequency rank
#41,639
“Amme” frequency rank
60434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Alma Amme
Definition weiblicher Vorname eine ein fremdes Kind stillende und betreuende Frau

Where the eye mixes Alma and Amme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Alma and Amme follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Alma
4 ch
Amme

Look-alike desk: Alma vs Amme

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Alma is [ˈalma] while Amme is [ˈamə]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Alma is recorded at frequency rank #18,795, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈalma]. Amme is at rank #41,639, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈamə].

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 60434, this pair ranks #787,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Alma vs Amme

Shared letters: am. Private to "Alma": l. Private to "Amme": e.

"Alma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Amme" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Alma ← alam · allma · almma · amla
  • Amme ← ame · amem · mame

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Alma" and "Amme" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Alma" is a name and "Amme" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Alma" vs "Amme" - which ranks higher?
"Alma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,795 in our German list, against #41,639 for "Amme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Alma" and "Amme" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Alma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Amme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #787,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Alma" and "Amme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amme vs Atze". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #787,154 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