Which to use
“hacken” and “hatten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,485
- “hacken” frequency rank
- #278
- “hatten” frequency rank
- 10763
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacken | hatten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einem spitzen Werkzeug auflockern, zerkleinern, zerschlagen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs haben |
Where the eye mixes hacken and hatten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hacken vs hatten
A purely visual mix-up. hacken ([ˈhakn̩]) and hatten ([ˈhatn̩]) 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 10763, 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]. hatten is at rank #278, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhatn̩].
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 10763, this pair ranks #1,973,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hacken vs hatten
Shared letters: aehn. Private to "hacken": ck. Private to "hatten": t.
"hacken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hacken" and "hatten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hacken" or "hatten"?
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 "hacken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hatten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,973,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacken" and "hatten" 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 #1,973,442 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.