HähnevsHöhleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,790
“Hähne” frequency rank
#5,271
“Höhle” frequency rank
55061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hähne Höhle
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hahn durch natürliche Prozesse entstandener, für Menschen zugänglicher hohler Raum in der Erdkruste, der relativ nah an der Oberfläche ist und teilweise oder ganz von Gestein umgeben ist

Where the eye mixes Hähne and Höhle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Hähne and Höhle follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Hähne
5 ch
Höhle

Visual trap between Hähne and Höhle

A purely visual mix-up. Hähne ([ˈhɛːnə]) and Höhle ([ˈhøːlə]) 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 55061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hähne is recorded at frequency rank #49,790, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛːnə]. Höhle is at rank #5,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːlə].

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 55061, this pair ranks #994,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hähne vs Höhle

Shared letters: eh. Private to "Hähne": nä. Private to "Höhle": lö.

"Hähne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Höhle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hähne" and "Höhle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛːnə] versus [ˈhøːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Hähne" or "Höhle" show up more?
"Höhle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,271 in our German list, against #49,790 for "Hähne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hähne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Höhle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #994,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hähne" and "Höhle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs haze". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #994,270 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