HäftlingevsHäftlingenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,676
“Häftlinge” frequency rank
#30,119
“Häftlingen” frequency rank
41795
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Häftlinge Häftlingen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Häftling Dativ Plural des Substantivs Häftling

Where the eye mixes Häftlinge and Häftlingen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Häftlinge runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against Häftlingen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Häftlinge
10 ch
Häftlingen

Why the eye confuses Häftlinge with Häftlingen

A purely visual mix-up. Häftlinge ([ˈhɛftlɪŋə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Häftlinge” sits inside “Häftlingen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Häftlinge is recorded at frequency rank #11,676, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛftlɪŋə]. 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 41795, this pair ranks #1,468,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Häftlinge vs Häftlingen

Shared letters: efghilntä. Private to "Häftlinge": -. Private to "Häftlingen": -.

"Häftlinge" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "Häftlingen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Häftlinge" and "Häftlingen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛftlɪŋə] versus [ˈhɛftlɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Häftlinge" vs "Häftlingen" - which ranks higher?
"Häftlinge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,676 in our German list, against #30,119 for "Häftlingen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Häftlinge" and "Häftlingen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Häftlinge" 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 #1,468,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Häftlinge" and "Häftlingen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Häftlingen vs Hattingen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,468,832 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list