Which to use
“Altar” is a noun and “altes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,164
- “Altar” frequency rank
- #3,501
- “altes” frequency rank
- 11665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Altar | altes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tischähnliche Einrichtung (zum Beispiel in einer Kirche) zur Feier eines Gottesdienstes, zur kultischen Verehrung oder für das Abhalten von Ritualen | Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt |
Where the eye mixes Altar and altes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Altar and altes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Altar is [alˈtaːɐ̯] while altes is [ˈaltəs]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Altar is recorded at frequency rank #8,164, classified as anoun, pronounced [alˈtaːɐ̯]. altes is at rank #3,501, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaltəs].
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 11665, this pair ranks #1,968,599 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Altar vs altes
Shared letters: alt. Private to "Altar": r. Private to "altes": es.
"Altar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "altes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Altar" for "altes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Altar" or "altes"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Altar" and "altes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Altar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "altes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,968,599 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Altar" and "altes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Altach vs Altar". 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 #1,968,599 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.