Which to use
“Haien” is a noun and “häkeln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,794
- “Haien” frequency rank
- #39,432
- “häkeln” frequency rank
- 78226
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Haien | häkeln |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Hai | einen Faden mit Hilfe einer Häkelnadel zu zusammenhängenden Maschen verknüpfen |
Where the eye mixes Haien and häkeln
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Haien runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against häkeln's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Haien with häkeln
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Haien is [ˈhaɪ̯ən] while häkeln is [ˈhɛːkl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Haien is recorded at frequency rank #38,794, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ən]. häkeln is at rank #39,432, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛːkl̩n].
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 78226, this pair ranks #243,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Haien vs häkeln
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Haien": ai. Private to "häkeln": klä.
"Haien" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "häkeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Haien ← ahien · haein · haienn · haine · hhaien · hiaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Haien" for "häkeln" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Haien" vs "häkeln" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Haien" and "häkeln" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Haien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "häkeln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,024 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Haien" and "häkeln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Haien vs haze". 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 #243,024 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.