alohavsalthoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aloha is a noun, altho is a conjunction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aloha” is a noun and “altho” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,656
“aloha” frequency rank
#44,055
“altho” frequency rank
69711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aloha altho
Definition Good wishes, love. Alternative spelling of although.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aloha and altho apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aloha
5 ch
altho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: aloha is anoun and althoaconjunction. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aloha is recorded at frequency rank #25,656, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈləʊ.(h)ə/. altho is at rank #44,055, tagged as aconj.

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 69711, this pair ranks #53,427 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aloha vs altho

Shared letters: ahlo. Private to "aloha": -. Private to "altho": t.

"aloha" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "altho" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alohaalhoa · alloha · aloah · alohha · aolha · laoha
  • althoalhto · alltho · althho · altoh · alttho · atlho · latho

Frequency comparison

aloha#25,656
altho#44,055

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aloha" and "altho" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aloha" is a noun and "altho" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aloha" or "altho"?
"aloha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,656 in our English list, against #44,055 for "altho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aloha vs altho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “aloha”; for a conjunction, it's “altho”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aloha” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list