HähnevsHühnerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,790
“Hähne” frequency rank
#10,112
“Hühner” frequency rank
59902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hähne Hühner
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hahn Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Huhn

Where the eye mixes Hähne and Hühner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hähne runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Hühner's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Hähne
6 ch
Hühner

Visual trap between Hähne and Hühner

A purely visual mix-up. Hähne ([ˈhɛːnə]) and Hühner ([ˈhyːnɐ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59902, 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]. Hühner is at rank #10,112, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhyːnɐ].

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 59902, this pair ranks #807,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hähne vs Hühner

Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Hähne": ä. Private to "Hühner": rü.

"Hähne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Hühner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hähne" and "Hühner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛːnə] versus [ˈhyːnɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hähne" or "Hühner"?
"Hühner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,112 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hähne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hühner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #807,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hähne" and "Hühner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs haze". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #807,035 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