Which to use
“hale” is a noun and “hatte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,821
- “hale” frequency rank
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- 35912
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hale | hatte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular des Substantivs hala | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben |
Where the eye mixes hale and hatte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hale vs hatte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hale is [ˈɦalɛ] while hatte is [ˈhatə]. 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 35912, 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]. hatte is at rank #91, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə].
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 35912, this pair ranks #1,628,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hale vs hatte
Shared letters: aeh. Private to "hale": l. Private to "hatte": t.
"hale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hale" for "hatte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hale" vs "hatte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hatte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,628,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hale" and "hatte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs hale". 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 #1,628,472 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.