Which to use
“altere” is a verb and “älteste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,169
- “altere” frequency rank
- #5,334
- “älteste” frequency rank
- 41503
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | altere | älteste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs altern | Nominativ Singular Femininum Superlativ der starken Flexion des Adjektivs alt |
Where the eye mixes altere and älteste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. altere runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against älteste's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses altere with älteste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: altere is [ˈaltəʁə] while älteste is [ˈɛltəstə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
altere is recorded at frequency rank #36,169, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaltəʁə]. älteste is at rank #5,334, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛltəstə].
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 41503, this pair ranks #1,477,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of altere vs älteste
Shared letters: elt. Private to "altere": ar. Private to "älteste": sä.
"altere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "älteste" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- altere ← aletre · alltere · alteer · alterre · altree · alttere · atlere · latere
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "altere" and "älteste" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "altere" or "älteste" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "altere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "älteste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,477,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "altere" and "älteste" 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 #1,477,472 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.