Which to use
“Habens” is a noun and “hauen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,596
- “Habens” frequency rank
- #7,187
- “hauen” frequency rank
- 38783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Habens | hauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Haben | einen oder mehrere Schläge mit der Faust / den Fäusten versetzen |
Where the eye mixes Habens and hauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Habens runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against hauen's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Habens with hauen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Habens is [ˈhaːbn̩s] while hauen is [ˈhaʊ̯ən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Habens is recorded at frequency rank #31,596, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːbn̩s]. hauen is at rank #7,187, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaʊ̯ən].
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 38783, this pair ranks #1,554,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Habens vs hauen
Shared letters: aehn. Private to "Habens": bs. Private to "hauen": u.
"Habens" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "hauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Habens" for "hauen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Habens" or "hauen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Habens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,554,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Habens" and "hauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Habens vs Haien". 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 #1,554,717 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.