Which to use
“ALTE” is an abbrev and “Amtes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #498
- “ALTE” frequency rank
- #8,821
- “Amtes” frequency rank
- 9319
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ALTE | Amtes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Apparent Life Threatening Event = anscheinend lebensbedrohliches Ereignis (Bezeichnung eines akuten Zustandes bei Neugeborenen oder Säuglingen mit Apnoe, Zyanose oder Blässe, verändertem Muskeltonus sowie Bradykardie) | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Amt |
Where the eye mixes ALTE and Amtes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ALTE vs Amtes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ALTE is [ˈaltə] while Amtes is [ˈamtəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (abbrev vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ALTE is recorded at frequency rank #498, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ˈaltə]. Amtes is at rank #8,821, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈamtəs].
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 9319, this pair ranks #1,980,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ALTE vs Amtes
Shared letters: aet. Private to "ALTE": l. Private to "Amtes": ms.
"ALTE" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "Amtes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ALTE" for "Amtes" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ALTE" or "Amtes" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ALTE" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Amtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,980,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ALTE" and "Amtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ages vs Amtes". 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 #1,980,531 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.