Which to use
“Hälfte” is a noun and “hatte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #905
- “Hälfte” frequency rank
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- 996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hälfte | hatte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einer von zwei gleich großen Anteilen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben |
Where the eye mixes Hälfte and hatte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Hälfte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against hatte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Hälfte and hatte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hälfte is [ˈhɛlftə] 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 996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hälfte is recorded at frequency rank #905, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛlftə]. 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 996, this pair ranks #2,005,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hälfte vs hatte
Shared letters: eht. Private to "Hälfte": flä. Private to "hatte": a.
"Hälfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hatte ← ahtte · hate · hatet · hhatte · htate
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hälfte" for "hatte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Hälfte" vs "hatte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Hälfte" and "hatte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hälfte" 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 #2,005,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hälfte" and "hatte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs hatte". 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 #2,005,051 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.