HälftevshängteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#905
“Hälfte” frequency rank
#42,582
“hängte” frequency rank
43487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hälfte hängte
Definition einer von zwei gleich großen Anteilen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hängen

Where the eye mixes Hälfte and hängte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Hälfte and hängte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Hälfte
6 ch
hängte

Look-alike desk: Hälfte vs hängte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hälfte is [ˈhɛlftə] while hängte is [ˈhɛŋtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 43487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hälfte is recorded at frequency rank #905, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛlftə]. hängte is at rank #42,582, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛŋtə].

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 43487, this pair ranks #1,416,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hälfte vs hängte

Shared letters: ehtä. Private to "Hälfte": fl. Private to "hängte": gn.

"Hälfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "hängte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hälfte" for "hängte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hälfte" is a noun and "hängte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Hälfte" vs "hängte" - which ranks higher?
"Hälfte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #905 in our German list, against #42,582 for "hängte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hälfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hängte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,416,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hälfte" and "hängte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hängte vs Hengste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,416,503 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list