Which to use
“alten” is an adjective and “Arsen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #416
- “alten” frequency rank
- #29,002
- “Arsen” frequency rank
- 29418
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alten | Arsen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt | das 33. chemische Element im Periodensystem, ein Halbmetall |
Where the eye mixes alten and Arsen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: alten vs Arsen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alten is [ˈaltn̩] while Arsen is [aʁˈzeːn]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alten is recorded at frequency rank #416, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaltn̩]. Arsen is at rank #29,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aʁˈzeːn].
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 29418, this pair ranks #1,767,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alten vs Arsen
Shared letters: aen. Private to "alten": lt. Private to "Arsen": rs.
"alten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "Arsen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alten" and "Arsen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "alten" vs "Arsen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Arsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,767,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alten" and "Arsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ärgsten vs Arsen". 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 #1,767,164 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.