halevshallenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#35,821
“hale” frequency rank
#10,865
“hallen” frequency rank
46686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hale hallen
Definition Dativ Singular des Substantivs hala einen Hall erzeugen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hale and hallen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hale
6 ch
hallen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hale is [ˈɦalɛ] while hallen is [ˈhalən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 46686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hale is recorded at frequency rank #35,821, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɦalɛ]. hallen is at rank #10,865, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhalən].

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 46686, this pair ranks #1,310,537 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hale vs hallen

Shared letters: aehl. Private to "hale": -. Private to "hallen": n.

"hale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hallen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haleahle · hael · hhale · hlae
  • hallenahllen · haleln · halen · hallenn · hallne · hhallen · hlalen

Frequency comparison

hale#35,821
hallen#10,865

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hale" and "hallen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hale" is a noun and "hallen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hale" or "hallen"?
"hallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,865 in our German list, against #35,821 for "hale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hale vs hallen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hale”; for a verb, it's “hallen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hale” 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