haltenvsHaltungWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#395
“halten” frequency rank
#2,546
“Haltung” frequency rank
2941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature halten Haltung
Definition etwas durch Kraftausübung in Ruhe belassen oder bringen (bezüglich des Stehens, Gehens oder Sitzens) Art und Weise, den Körper, insbesondere das Rückgrat zu halten; Körperhaltung

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set halten and Haltung apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
halten
7 ch
Haltung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: halten is [ˈhaltn̩] while Haltung is [ˈhaltʊŋ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

halten is recorded at frequency rank #395, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩]. Haltung is at rank #2,546, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaltʊŋ].

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 2941, this pair ranks #2,001,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of halten vs Haltung

Shared letters: ahlnt. Private to "halten": e. Private to "Haltung": gu.

"halten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Haltung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haltenahlten · haletn · hallten · haltenn · haltne · haltten · hatlen · hhalten
  • Haltungahltung · halltung · haltnug · halttung · haltugn · haltungg · haltunng · halutng

Frequency comparison

halten#395
Haltung#2,546

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "halten" and "Haltung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "halten" is a verb and "Haltung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "halten" or "Haltung"?
"halten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #395 in our German list, against #2,546 for "Haltung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering halten vs Haltung

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “halten”; for a noun, it's “Haltung”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “halten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list