Which to use
“Hälfte” is a noun and “halte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #905
- “Hälfte” frequency rank
- #1,390
- “halte” frequency rank
- 2295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hälfte | halte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einer von zwei gleich großen Anteilen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs halten |
Where the eye mixes Hälfte and halte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hälfte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against halte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Hälfte with halte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hälfte is [ˈhɛlftə] while halte is [ˈhaltə]. 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 2295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hälfte is recorded at frequency rank #905, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛlftə]. halte is at rank #1,390, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltə].
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 2295, this pair ranks #2,002,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hälfte vs halte
Shared letters: ehlt. Private to "Hälfte": fä. Private to "halte": a.
"Hälfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "halte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- halte ← ahlte · halet · hallte · haltte · hatle · hhalte · hlate
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hälfte" for "halte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Hälfte" or "halte" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hälfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "halte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,002,680 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hälfte" and "halte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs halte". 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 #2,002,680 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.