haarenvshaltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,845
“haaren” frequency rank
#395
“halten” frequency rank
6240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature haaren halten
Definition Haare verlieren etwas durch Kraftausübung in Ruhe belassen oder bringen

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
haaren
6 ch
halten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. haaren ([ˈhaːʁən]) and halten ([ˈhaltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6240, 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]. halten is at rank #395, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩].

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 6240, this pair ranks #1,992,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of haaren vs halten

Shared letters: aehn. Private to "haaren": r. Private to "halten": lt.

"haaren" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "halten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haarenaharen · haaern · haarenn · haarne · haarren · haraen · haren · hhaaren
  • haltenahlten · haletn · hallten · haltenn · haltne · haltten · hatlen · hhalten

Frequency comparison

haaren#5,845
halten#395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "haaren" and "halten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaːʁən] versus [ˈhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "haaren" or "halten"?
"halten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #395 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 halten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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