Which to use
“alten” is an adjective and “altere” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #416
- “alten” frequency rank
- #36,169
- “altere” frequency rank
- 36585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alten | altere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs altern |
Where the eye mixes alten and altere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alten runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against altere's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: alten vs altere
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alten is [ˈaltn̩] while altere is [ˈaltəʁə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alten is recorded at frequency rank #416, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaltn̩]. altere is at rank #36,169, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaltəʁə].
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 36585, this pair ranks #1,611,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alten vs altere
Shared letters: aelt. Private to "alten": n. Private to "altere": r.
"alten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "altere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alten" and "altere" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "alten" vs "altere" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "alten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "altere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,611,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alten" and "altere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "altere vs alternde". 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 #1,611,813 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.