HakenvsHosenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,803
“Haken” frequency rank
#5,089
“Hosen” frequency rank
11892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Haken Hosen
Definition geschwungen oder eckig gekrümmte Vorrichtung zum Aufhängen oder Einhaken von Objekten, meist aus Metall, Holz oder Kunststoff geformt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hose

Where the eye mixes Haken and Hosen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Haken
5 ch
Hosen

Look-alike desk: Haken vs Hosen

A purely visual mix-up. Haken ([ˈhaːkn̩]) and Hosen ([ˈhoːzn̩]) 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 11892, 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]. Hosen is at rank #5,089, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhoːzn̩].

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 11892, this pair ranks #1,967,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Haken vs Hosen

Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Haken": ak. Private to "Hosen": os.

"Haken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Hosen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hakenahken · haekn · hakenn · hakken · hakne · hhaken · hkaen
  • Hosenhhosen · hoesn · hosenn · hosne · hossen · hsoen · ohsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Haken" and "Hosen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaːkn̩] versus [ˈhoːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Haken" or "Hosen"?
"Hosen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,089 in our German list, against #6,803 for "Haken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Haken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hosen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,967,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Haken" and "Hosen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Haken 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 #1,967,360 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