Which to use
“halten” is a verb and “Häuten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #395
- “halten” frequency rank
- #48,238
- “Häuten” frequency rank
- 48633
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | halten | Häuten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas durch Kraftausübung in Ruhe belassen oder bringen | Tötung durch Entfernen der Haut |
Where the eye mixes halten and Häuten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. halten (CVCCVC) and Häuten (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses halten with Häuten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: halten is [ˈhaltn̩] while Häuten is [ˈhɔɪ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
halten is recorded at frequency rank #395, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩]. Häuten is at rank #48,238, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɔɪ̯tn̩].
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 48633, this pair ranks #1,241,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of halten vs Häuten
Shared letters: ehnt. Private to "halten": al. Private to "Häuten": uä.
"halten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Häuten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- halten ← ahlten · haletn · hallten · haltenn · haltne · haltten · hatlen · hhalten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "halten" for "Häuten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "halten" or "Häuten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "halten" and "Häuten" 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 "Häuten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,241,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "halten" and "Häuten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs Häuten". 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 #1,241,355 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.