Which to use
“hacken” is a verb and “Hafen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,485
- “hacken” frequency rank
- #3,532
- “Hafen” frequency rank
- 14017
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacken | Hafen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einem spitzen Werkzeug auflockern, zerkleinern, zerschlagen | natürliches oder künstlich angelegtes Wasserbecken für Schiffe am Meeresrand oder an Binnenwasserwegen, um dort zu liegen und zu ankern, mit Anlagen zum Löschen, Laden, Reinigen und Ausbessern |
Where the eye mixes hacken and Hafen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hacken with Hafen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hacken is [ˈhakn̩] while Hafen is [ˈhaːfn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hacken is recorded at frequency rank #10,485, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhakn̩]. Hafen is at rank #3,532, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːfn̩].
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 14017, this pair ranks #1,954,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hacken vs Hafen
Shared letters: aehn. Private to "hacken": ck. Private to "Hafen": f.
"hacken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Hafen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hacken" and "Hafen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "hacken" or "Hafen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hacken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Hafen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,954,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacken" and "Hafen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hacken 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 #1,954,146 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.