HafenvsHämeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Hafen” and “Häme” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,532
“Hafen” frequency rank
#30,120
“Häme” frequency rank
33652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hafen Häme
Definition 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 Spott mit starkem Anteil an Schadenfreude; zynische Polemik

Where the eye mixes Hafen and Häme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Hafen
4 ch
Häme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Hafen ([ˈhaːfn̩]) and Häme ([ˈhɛːmə]) 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 33652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hafen is recorded at frequency rank #3,532, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːfn̩]. Häme is at rank #30,120, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛːmə].

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 33652, this pair ranks #1,681,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hafen vs Häme

Shared letters: eh. Private to "Hafen": afn. Private to "Häme": .

"Hafen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Häme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hafenahfen · haefn · hafenn · haffen · hafne · hfaen · hhafen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hafen" and "Häme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaːfn̩] versus [ˈhɛːmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hafen" or "Häme"?
"Hafen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,532 in our German list, against #30,120 for "Häme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list