Which to use
“Häftling” and “Häftlingen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,616
- “Häftling” frequency rank
- #30,119
- “Häftlingen” frequency rank
- 47735
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Häftling | Häftlingen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Person, die in Haft ist | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Häftling |
Where the eye mixes Häftling and Häftlingen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Häftling runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against Häftlingen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Häftling and Häftlingen
A purely visual mix-up. Häftling ([ˈhɛftlɪŋ]) and Häftlingen ([ˈhɛftlɪŋən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Häftling” sits inside “Häftlingen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Häftling is recorded at frequency rank #17,616, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛftlɪŋ]. Häftlingen is at rank #30,119, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛftlɪŋən].
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 47735, this pair ranks #1,273,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Häftling vs Häftlingen
Shared letters: fghilntä. Private to "Häftling": -. Private to "Häftlingen": e.
"Häftling" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "Häftlingen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Häftling" and "Häftlingen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Häftling" or "Häftlingen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Häftling" and "Häftlingen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Häftling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Häftlingen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,273,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Häftling" and "Häftlingen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Häftlingen vs Hattingen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,273,939 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.