haltendvshärtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,719
“haltend” frequency rank
#47,493
“härten” frequency rank
94212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature haltend härten
Definition Partizip Präsens des Verbs halten transitiv:

Where the eye mixes haltend and härten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. haltend runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against härten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
haltend
6 ch
härten

Visual trap between haltend and härten

A purely visual mix-up. haltend ([ˈhaltn̩t]) 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 94212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

haltend is recorded at frequency rank #46,719, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaltn̩t]. 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 94212, this pair ranks #18,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of haltend vs härten

Shared letters: ehnt. Private to "haltend": adl. Private to "härten": rä.

"haltend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haltend ← ahltend · haletnd · halltend · haltedn · haltendd · haltennd · haltned · halttend

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "haltend" for "härten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaltn̩t] versus [ˈhɛʁtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "haltend" or "härten"?
"haltend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46,719 in our German list, against #47,493 for "härten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "haltend" 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 #18,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "haltend" 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 #18,050 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