Which to use
“hale” is a noun and “holde” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,821
- “hale” frequency rank
- #45,352
- “holde” frequency rank
- 81173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hale | holde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular des Substantivs hala | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold |
Where the eye mixes hale and holde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hale runs 4 letters (CVCV) against holde's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hale with holde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hale is [ˈɦalɛ] while holde is [ˈhɔldə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81173, 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]. holde is at rank #45,352, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldə].
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 81173, this pair ranks #180,845 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hale vs holde
Shared letters: ehl. Private to "hale": a. Private to "holde": do.
"hale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "holde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hale" for "holde" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hale" or "holde" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "holde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #180,845 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hale" and "holde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hola vs holde". 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 #180,845 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.