altavsalthoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,649
“alta” frequency rank
#44,055
“altho” frequency rank
68704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alta altho
Definition Rose bengal dye worn by Indian women on the feet during festivals. Alternative spelling of although.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
alta
5 ch
altho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: alta is anoun and althoaconjunction. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alta is recorded at frequency rank #24,649, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑːltə/. 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 68704, this pair ranks #57,693 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alta vs altho

Shared letters: alt. Private to "alta": -. Private to "altho": ho.

"alta" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "altho" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • altaalat · allta · altta · atla · lata
  • althoalhto · alltho · althho · altoh · alttho · atlho · latho

Frequency comparison

alta#24,649
altho#44,055

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alta" and "altho" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alta" is a noun and "altho" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alta" or "altho"?
"alta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,649 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 alta vs altho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “alta”; for a conjunction, it's “altho”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alta” 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