HabensvshebenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#31,596
“Habens” frequency rank
#5,603
“heben” frequency rank
37199
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Habens heben
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Haben auf größere Höhe bringen

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Habens
5 ch
heben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Habens is [ˈhaːbn̩s] while heben is [ˈheːbn̩]. 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 37199, 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]. heben is at rank #5,603, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈheːbn̩].

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 37199, this pair ranks #1,596,334 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Habens vs heben

Shared letters: behn. Private to "Habens": as. Private to "heben": -.

"Habens" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "heben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Habensahbens · habbens · habenns · habenss · habesn · habnes · haebns · hbaens
  • hebenehben · hbeen · hebben · hebenn · hebne · heebn · hheben

Frequency comparison

Habens#31,596
heben#5,603

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Habens" and "heben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Habens" is a noun and "heben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Habens" or "heben"?
"heben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,603 in our German list, against #31,596 for "Habens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Habens vs heben

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Habens”; for a verb, it's “heben”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Habens” 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