altertvsÄmternConfusable pair

Quick tell: altert is a verb, Ämtern is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“altert” is a verb and “Ämtern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,458
“altert” frequency rank
#13,533
“Ämtern” frequency rank
59991
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature altert Ämtern
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs altern Dativ Plural des Substantivs Amt

Where the eye mixes altert and Ämtern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
altert
6 ch
Ämtern

Visual trap between altert and Ämtern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: altert is [ˈaltɐt] while Ämtern is [ˈɛmtɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

altert is recorded at frequency rank #46,458, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaltɐt]. Ämtern is at rank #13,533, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛmtɐn].

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 59991, this pair ranks #803,693 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of altert vs Ämtern

Shared letters: ert. Private to "altert": al. Private to "Ämtern": mnä.

"altert" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Ämtern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • altertaletrt · alltert · alterrt · altertt · altetr · altret · alttert · atlert

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "altert" for "Ämtern" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "altert" is a verb and "Ämtern" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "altert" or "Ämtern" show up more?
"Ämtern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,533 in our German list, against #46,458 for "altert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "altert" and "Ämtern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "altert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ämtern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #803,693 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "altert" and "Ämtern" 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 #803,693 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list