Which to use
“Haien” is a noun and “hängen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,794
- “Haien” frequency rank
- #2,114
- “hängen” frequency rank
- 40908
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Haien | hängen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Hai | an einem festen Punkt (durch das Eigengewicht nach unten baumelnd) befestigen |
Where the eye mixes Haien and hängen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Haien runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against hängen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Haien with hängen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Haien is [ˈhaɪ̯ən] while hängen is [ˈhɛŋən]. 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 40908, 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]. hängen is at rank #2,114, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛŋən].
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 40908, this pair ranks #1,494,864 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Haien vs hängen
Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Haien": ai. Private to "hängen": gä.
"Haien" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "hängen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Haien ← ahien · haein · haienn · haine · hhaien · hiaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Haien" for "hängen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Haien" or "hängen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Haien" and "hängen" 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 "hängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,494,864 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Haien" and "hängen" 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 #1,494,864 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.