haarenvsHabenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: haaren is a verb, Haben is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“haaren” is a verb and “Haben” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,845
“haaren” frequency rank
#50
“Haben” frequency rank
5895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature haaren Haben
Definition Haare verlieren Gesamtheit der Einnahmen und des Besitzes, Guthaben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set haaren and Haben apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
haaren
5 ch
Haben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: haaren is [ˈhaːʁən] while Haben is [ˈhaːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

haaren is recorded at frequency rank #5,845, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaːʁən]. Haben is at rank #50, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːbn̩].

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 5895, this pair ranks #1,993,374 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of haaren vs Haben

Shared letters: aehn. Private to "haaren": r. Private to "Haben": b.

"haaren" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Haben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haarenaharen · haaern · haarenn · haarne · haarren · haraen · haren · hhaaren
  • Habenahben · habben · habenn · habne · haebn · hbaen · hhaben

Frequency comparison

haaren#5,845
Haben#50

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "haaren" and "Haben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "haaren" is a verb and "Haben" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "haaren" or "Haben"?
"Haben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #50 in our German list, against #5,845 for "haaren". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering haaren vs Haben

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “haaren”; for a noun, it's “Haben”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “haaren” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list