HahnvsHaltWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,046
“Hahn” frequency rank
#383
“Halt” frequency rank
4429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hahn Halt
Definition das männliche Tier verschiedener Vogelarten Station eines Verkehrsmittels, an der dieses hält

Where the eye mixes Hahn and Halt

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

4 ch
Hahn
4 ch
Halt

Why the eye confuses Hahn with Halt

A purely visual mix-up. Hahn ([haːn]) and Halt ([halt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hahn is recorded at frequency rank #4,046, classified as anoun, pronounced [haːn]. Halt is at rank #383, tagged as anoun, pronounced [halt].

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 4429, this pair ranks #1,997,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hahn vs Halt

Shared letters: ah. Private to "Hahn": n. Private to "Halt": lt.

"Hahn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Halt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hahnahhn · hahhn · hahnn · hanh · hhahn · hhan
  • Haltahlt · haltt · hatl · hhalt · hlat

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hahn" and "Halt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([haːn] versus [halt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hahn" or "Halt"?
"Halt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #383 in our German list, against #4,046 for "Hahn". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hahn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Halt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,997,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hahn" and "Halt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hahn vs Hähne". 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 #1,997,743 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