Which to use
“abhalten” and “abhauen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,672
- “abhalten” frequency rank
- #25,868
- “abhauen” frequency rank
- 34540
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhalten | abhauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden an etwas hindern, von etwas fernhalten | etwas abschlagen, abtrennen (starke und schwache Konjugation: hieb/haute ab und abgehauen/abgehaut) |
Where the eye mixes abhalten and abhauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abhalten runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against abhauen's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses abhalten with abhauen
A purely visual mix-up. abhalten ([ˈapˌhaltn̩]) and abhauen ([ˈapˌhaʊ̯ən]) 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 34540, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abhalten is recorded at frequency rank #8,672, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaltn̩]. abhauen is at rank #25,868, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌhaʊ̯ən].
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 34540, this pair ranks #1,660,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abhalten vs abhauen
Shared letters: abehn. Private to "abhalten": lt. Private to "abhauen": u.
"abhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "abhauen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abhalten" for "abhauen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "abhalten" or "abhauen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "abhalten" and "abhauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abhauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,660,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhalten" and "abhauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhauen vs absaugen". 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 #1,660,980 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.