Which to use
“alten” is an adjective and “altert” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #416
- “alten” frequency rank
- #46,458
- “altert” frequency rank
- 46874
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alten | altert |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs altern |
Where the eye mixes alten and altert
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alten runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against altert's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses alten with altert
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alten is [ˈaltn̩] while altert is [ˈaltɐt]. 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 46874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alten is recorded at frequency rank #416, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaltn̩]. altert is at rank #46,458, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaltɐt].
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 46874, this pair ranks #1,303,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of alten vs altert
Shared letters: aelt. Private to "alten": n. Private to "altert": r.
"alten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "altert" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alten" for "altert" ever safe?
Which is more common, "alten" or "altert"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "alten" and "altert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "alten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "altert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,303,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alten" and "altert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "altars vs altert". 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 #1,303,975 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.