haltevshärtenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,390
“halte” frequency rank
#47,493
“härten” frequency rank
48883
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature halte härten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs halten transitiv:

Where the eye mixes halte and härten

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

5 ch
halte
6 ch
härten

Visual trap between halte and härten

A purely visual mix-up. halte ([ˈhaltə]) and härten ([ˈhɛʁtn̩]) 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 48883, 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]. härten is at rank #47,493, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛʁtn̩].

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 48883, this pair ranks #1,231,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of halte vs härten

Shared letters: eht. Private to "halte": al. Private to "härten": nrä.

"halte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "halte" and "härten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaltə] versus [ˈhɛʁtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "halte" vs "härten" - which ranks higher?
"halte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,390 in our German list, against #47,493 for "härten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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 "härten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,231,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "halte" and "härten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs härten". 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 #1,231,974 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