Which to use
“abhaken” and “abhalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,894
- “abhaken” frequency rank
- #8,672
- “abhalten” frequency rank
- 41566
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhaken | abhalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einem Häkchen versehen | jemanden an etwas hindern, von etwas fernhalten |
Where the eye mixes abhaken and abhalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abhaken runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against abhalten's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between abhaken and abhalten
A purely visual mix-up. abhaken ([ˈapˌhaːkn̩]) and abhalten ([ˈapˌhaltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abhaken is recorded at frequency rank #32,894, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaːkn̩]. abhalten is at rank #8,672, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaltn̩].
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 41566, this pair ranks #1,475,648 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abhaken vs abhalten
Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abhaken": k. Private to "abhalten": lt.
"abhaken" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "abhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abhaken" and "abhalten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "abhaken" or "abhalten" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abhaken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abhalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,475,648 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhaken" and "abhalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhaken vs abraten". 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 #1,475,648 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.