aufhältvsaufhaltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,510
“aufhält” frequency rank
#5,679
“aufhalten” frequency rank
23189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aufhält aufhalten
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs aufhalten jemanden/etwas nicht weitergehen/weiterfortschreiten lassen

Where the eye mixes aufhält and aufhalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aufhält runs 7 letters (VVCCVCC) against aufhalten's 9 (VVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
aufhält
9 ch
aufhalten

Look-alike desk: aufhält vs aufhalten

A purely visual mix-up. aufhält ([ˈaʊ̯fˌhɛlt]) and aufhalten ([ˈaʊ̯fˌhaltn̩]) 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 23189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aufhält is recorded at frequency rank #17,510, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌhɛlt]. aufhalten is at rank #5,679, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌhaltn̩].

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 23189, this pair ranks #1,864,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aufhält vs aufhalten

Shared letters: afhltu. Private to "aufhält": ä. Private to "aufhalten": en.

"aufhält" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "aufhalten" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aufhalten ← afuhalten · aufahlten · auffhalten · aufhaletn · aufhallten · aufhaltenn · aufhaltne · aufhaltten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aufhält" for "aufhalten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌhɛlt] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "aufhält" or "aufhalten" show up more?
"aufhalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,679 in our German list, against #17,510 for "aufhält". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "aufhält" and "aufhalten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aufhält" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aufhalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,864,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aufhält" and "aufhalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aufhält vs aushält". 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 #1,864,600 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