Alternative

/[ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə]/ noun

Letters

11 characters

Frequency Rank

#1,756

in German word usage

Misspellings

16

tracked variants

Confusables

4

similar word pairs

Alternative is aGermannoun. It means: eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten oder eine Ausweichsmöglichkeit (siehe auch ausweichen) Pronounced [ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə]. It ranks #1,756 in German word frequency. Often confused with Alternativen and alternativer.

Key facts for Alternative
PropertyValue
HeadwordAlternative
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə]
Letters11
Frequency rank#1,756
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Alternative in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Alternative is 11 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,756 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 16 documented wrong-spelling variants for Alternative, with forms such as "aletrnative", "allternative", and "altenrative". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Alternativen", "alternativer", "alternatives", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Alternative, spelled A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-I-V-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten oder eine Ausweichsmöglichkeit (siehe auch ausweichen)
  2. 2
    Wahlmöglichkeit zwischen zwei einander ausschließenden Optionen (ursprüngliche Bedeutung; nur so im zugrunde liegenden lateinischen Wort alter)
  3. 3
    Aussage, bei der zwei Aussagesätze durch ein inklusives oder verbunden sind und die genau dann wahr ist, wenn zumindest einer davon wahr ist
  4. 4
    Gruppierung mit einem politischen Ziel jenseits der etablierten bürgerlichen Parteien mit ökologischem und bürgerrechtlichem Schwerpunkt, z. B. GAL

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aletrnative,allternative,altenrative,alterantive,alternaitve,alternatiev,alternativve,alternattive,alternatvie,alternnative,alterntaive,alterrnative,altrenative,altternative,atlernative,laternative

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Alternative

Misspelling Variants of "Alternative"

aletrnative11allternative12altenrative11alterantive11alternaitve11alternatiev11alternativve12alternattive12
Misspelling Variants of "Alternative"

Frequency rank: #1,756 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Alternative"?
"Alternative" is spelled A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə].
What does "Alternative" mean?
As a noun, "Alternative" means: eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten oder eine Ausweichsmöglichkeit (siehe auch ausweichen)
What words are commonly confused with "Alternative"?
"Alternative" is commonly confused with "Alternativen", "alternativer", "alternatives". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Alternative"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Alternative" is [ˌaltɛʁnaˈtiːvə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Alternative" come from?
"Alternative" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.