hältstvshasstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,218
“hältst” frequency rank
#5,962
“hasst” frequency rank
15180
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hältst hasst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs halten 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hassen

Where the eye mixes hältst and hasst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hältst runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against hasst's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hältst
5 ch
hasst

Why the eye confuses hältst with hasst

A purely visual mix-up. hältst ([hɛlt͡st]) and hasst ([hast]) 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 15180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hältst is recorded at frequency rank #9,218, classified as averb, pronounced [hɛlt͡st]. hasst is at rank #5,962, tagged as averb, pronounced [hast].

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 15180, this pair ranks #1,945,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hältst vs hasst

Shared letters: hst. Private to "hältst": lä. Private to "hasst": a.

"hältst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "hasst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hasst ← ahsst · hasstt · hasts · haßt · hhasst · hsast

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hältst" and "hasst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɛlt͡st] versus [hast]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "hältst" or "hasst" show up more?
"hasst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,962 in our German list, against #9,218 for "hältst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hältst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hasst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,945,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hältst" and "hasst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hallt vs hältst". 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 #1,945,795 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