Which to use
“Hälfte” is a noun and “halten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #905
- “Hälfte” frequency rank
- #395
- “halten” frequency rank
- 1300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hälfte | halten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einer von zwei gleich großen Anteilen | etwas durch Kraftausübung in Ruhe belassen oder bringen |
Where the eye mixes Hälfte and halten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hälfte (CVCCCV) and halten (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Hälfte with halten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hälfte is [ˈhɛlftə] while halten is [ˈhaltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hälfte is recorded at frequency rank #905, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛlftə]. halten is at rank #395, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩].
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 1300, this pair ranks #2,004,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hälfte vs halten
Shared letters: ehlt. Private to "Hälfte": fä. Private to "halten": an.
"Hälfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "halten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- halten ← ahlten · haletn · hallten · haltenn · haltne · haltten · hatlen · hhalten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hälfte" for "halten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Hälfte" vs "halten" - 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 "Hälfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "halten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,004,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hälfte" and "halten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "halten vs harren". 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 #2,004,589 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.