altenvsAnnenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alten is a adjective, Annen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alten” is an adjective and “Annen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#416
“alten” frequency rank
#41,021
“Annen” frequency rank
41437
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alten Annen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt Dativ Plural des Substantivs Ann

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alten and Annen apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
alten
5 ch
Annen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: alten is anadjective and Annenanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alten is recorded at frequency rank #416, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaltn̩]. Annen is at rank #41,021, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 41437, this pair ranks #1,479,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alten vs Annen

Shared letters: aen. Private to "alten": lt. Private to "Annen": -.

"alten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Annen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • altenaletn · allten · altenn · altne · altten · atlen · laten
  • Annenanenn · annenn · annne · nanen

Frequency comparison

alten#416
Annen#41,021

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alten" and "Annen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alten" is an adjective and "Annen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alten" or "Annen"?
"alten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #416 in our German list, against #41,021 for "Annen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering alten vs Annen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “alten”; for a noun, it's “Annen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list