haltevshängteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“halte” and “hängte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,390
“halte” frequency rank
#42,582
“hängte” frequency rank
43972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature halte hängte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs halten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hängen

Where the eye mixes halte and hängte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. halte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against hängte's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
halte
6 ch
hängte

Look-alike desk: halte vs hängte

A purely visual mix-up. halte ([ˈhaltə]) and hängte ([ˈhɛŋtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

halte is recorded at frequency rank #1,390, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltə]. 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 43972, this pair ranks #1,401,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of halte vs hängte

Shared letters: eht. Private to "halte": al. Private to "hängte": gnä.

"halte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hängte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • halte ← ahlte · halet · hallte · haltte · hatle · hhalte · hlate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "halte" and "hängte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaltə] versus [ˈhɛŋtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "halte" or "hängte" show up more?
"halte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,390 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 "halte" 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 #1,401,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "halte" and "hängte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hängte vs Hengste". 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 #1,401,171 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