Which to use
“hacken” and “hauen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,485
- “hacken” frequency rank
- #7,187
- “hauen” frequency rank
- 17672
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacken | hauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einem spitzen Werkzeug auflockern, zerkleinern, zerschlagen | einen oder mehrere Schläge mit der Faust / den Fäusten versetzen |
Where the eye mixes hacken and hauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hacken with hauen
A purely visual mix-up. hacken ([ˈhakn̩]) and hauen ([ˈhaʊ̯ən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17672, 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]. 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 17672, this pair ranks #1,925,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hacken vs hauen
Shared letters: aehn. Private to "hacken": ck. Private to "hauen": u.
"hacken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hacken" and "hauen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hacken" vs "hauen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hacken" and "hauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hacken" 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 #1,925,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacken" and "hauen" 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 #1,925,312 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.