angehaltenvsanhaltenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“angehalten” and “anhalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,503
“angehalten” frequency rank
#9,139
“anhalten” frequency rank
18642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angehalten anhalten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs anhalten jemanden zu etwas ermahnen

Where the eye mixes angehalten and anhalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. angehalten runs 10 letters (VCCVCVCCVC) against anhalten's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
angehalten
8 ch
anhalten

Why the eye confuses angehalten with anhalten

A purely visual mix-up. angehalten ([ˈanɡəˌhaltn̩]) and anhalten ([ˈanˌhaltn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

angehalten is recorded at frequency rank #9,503, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanɡəˌhaltn̩]. anhalten is at rank #9,139, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌhaltn̩].

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 18642, this pair ranks #1,916,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angehalten vs anhalten

Shared letters: aehlnt. Private to "angehalten": g. Private to "anhalten": -.

"angehalten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "anhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angehalten ← agnehalten · aneghalten · angeahlten · angehaletn · angehallten · angehaltenn · angehaltne · angehaltten
  • anhalten ← ahnalten · anahlten · anhaletn · anhallten · anhaltenn · anhaltne · anhaltten · anhatlen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "angehalten" for "anhalten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanɡəˌhaltn̩] versus [ˈanˌhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "angehalten" or "anhalten"?
"anhalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,139 in our German list, against #9,503 for "angehalten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "angehalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anhalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,916,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "angehalten" and "anhalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "angehalten vs anschalten". 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 #1,916,316 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list