Which to use
“halten” and “haste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #395
- “halten” frequency rank
- #9,562
- “haste” frequency rank
- 9957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | halten | haste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas durch Kraftausübung in Ruhe belassen oder bringen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hasten |
Where the eye mixes halten and haste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: halten vs haste
A purely visual mix-up. halten ([ˈhaltn̩]) and haste ([ˈhastə]) 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 9957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
halten is recorded at frequency rank #395, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩]. haste is at rank #9,562, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhastə].
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 9957, this pair ranks #1,977,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of halten vs haste
Shared letters: aeht. Private to "halten": ln. Private to "haste": s.
"halten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "haste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "halten" for "haste" ever safe?
Which is more common, "halten" or "haste"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "halten" and "haste" 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 "haste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,977,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "halten" and "haste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs haste". 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 #1,977,463 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.