Which to use
“haften” and “hatten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,504
- “haften” frequency rank
- #278
- “hatten” frequency rank
- 12782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | haften | hatten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an etwas kleben, an etwas festhängen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs haben |
Where the eye mixes haften and hatten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. haften ([ˈhaftn̩]) 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 differ by a single letter - f in “haften” becomes t in “hatten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
haften is recorded at frequency rank #12,504, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaftn̩]. 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 12782, this pair ranks #1,962,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of haften vs hatten
Shared letters: aehnt. Private to "haften": f. Private to "hatten": -.
"haften" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "haften" and "hatten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "haften" or "hatten"?
What to do next
You've compared "haften" and "hatten". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "haften" 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 #1,962,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "haften" and "hatten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haften 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.