Which to use
“halb” and “halbem” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,849
- “halb” frequency rank
- #30,103
- “halbem” frequency rank
- 31952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | halb | halbem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | geteilt durch zwei; die Hälfte von etwas seiend; zu 50 Prozent | Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs halb |
Where the eye mixes halb and halbem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between halb and halbem
A purely visual mix-up. halb ([halp]) and halbem ([ˈhalbəm]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “halb” sits inside “halbem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
halb is recorded at frequency rank #1,849, classified as anadj, pronounced [halp]. halbem is at rank #30,103, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhalbəm].
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 31952, this pair ranks #1,717,787 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of halb vs halbem
Shared letters: abhl. Private to "halb": -. Private to "halbem": em.
"halb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "halbem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "halb" and "halbem" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "halb" vs "halbem" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "halb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "halbem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,717,787 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "halb" and "halbem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "halbem vs Halver". 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 #1,717,787 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.