habvshusWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#126
“hab” frequency rank
#35,244
“hus” frequency rank
35370
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hab hus
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs haben Haus

Where the eye mixes hab and hus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
hab
3 ch
hus

Why the eye confuses hab with hus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hab is [haːp] while hus is [huːˀs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hab is recorded at frequency rank #126, classified as averb, pronounced [haːp]. hus is at rank #35,244, tagged as anoun, pronounced [huːˀs].

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 35370, this pair ranks #1,641,614 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hab vs hus

Shared letters: h. Private to "hab": ab. Private to "hus": su.

"hab" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hab" and "hus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hab" is a verb and "hus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "hab" or "hus" show up more?
"hab" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #126 in our German list, against #35,244 for "hus". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,641,614 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hab" and "hus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "höh vs hus". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,641,614 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