Which to use
“halten” and “härten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #395
- “halten” frequency rank
- #47,493
- “härten” frequency rank
- 47888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | halten | härten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas durch Kraftausübung in Ruhe belassen oder bringen | transitiv: |
Where the eye mixes halten and härten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. halten and härten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between halten and härten
A purely visual mix-up. halten ([ˈhaltn̩]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
halten is recorded at frequency rank #395, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩]. 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 47888, this pair ranks #1,268,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of halten vs härten
Shared letters: ehnt. Private to "halten": al. Private to "härten": rä.
"halten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- halten ← ahlten · haletn · hallten · haltenn · haltne · haltten · hatlen · hhalten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "halten" for "härten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "halten" or "härten" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "halten" and "härten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "halten" 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 #1,268,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "halten" 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 #1,268,395 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.