Which to use
“allot” is a verb and “alls” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,314
- “allot” frequency rank
- #44,608
- “alls” frequency rank
- 81922
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allot | alls |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To distribute or apportion by (or as if by) lot. | All. |
Where the eye mixes allot and alls
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. allot runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against alls's 4 (VCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses allot with alls
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: allot is /əˈlɒt/ while alls is /ɔːlz/. 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 determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81922, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allot is recorded at frequency rank #37,314, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈlɒt/. alls is at rank #44,608, tagged as adet, pronounced /ɔːlz/.
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 81922, this pair ranks #16,687 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of allot vs alls
Shared letters: al. Private to "allot": ot. Private to "alls": s.
"allot" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "alls" · 4 letters · shape VCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "allot" for "alls" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "allot" or "alls" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "allot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alls" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,687 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allot" and "alls" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "algo vs alls". 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 #16,687 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.