HakenvshärtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Haken is a noun, härten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Haken” is a noun and “härten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,803
“Haken” frequency rank
#47,493
“härten” frequency rank
54296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Haken härten
Definition geschwungen oder eckig gekrümmte Vorrichtung zum Aufhängen oder Einhaken von Objekten, meist aus Metall, Holz oder Kunststoff geformt transitiv:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Haken and härten apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Haken
6 ch
härten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Haken is [ˈhaːkn̩] while härten is [ˈhɛʁtn̩]. 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 54296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Haken is recorded at frequency rank #6,803, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːkn̩]. härten is at rank #47,493, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛʁtn̩].

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 54296, this pair ranks #1,024,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Haken vs härten

Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Haken": ak. Private to "härten": rtä.

"Haken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hakenahken · haekn · hakenn · hakken · hakne · hhaken · hkaen

Frequency comparison

Haken#6,803
härten#47,493

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Haken" and "härten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Haken" is a noun and "härten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Haken" or "härten"?
"Haken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,803 in our German list, against #47,493 for "härten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Haken vs härten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Haken”; for a verb, it's “härten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Haken” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list