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 eye mixes haaren and halten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. haaren (CVVCVC) and halten (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: haaren vs halten
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "haaren" for "halten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "haaren" or "halten" show up more?
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 "haaren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "halten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "haaren" and "halten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haaren vs harren". 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 #1,992,266 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.