Which to use
“Häme” is a noun and “hampel” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,120
- “Häme” frequency rank
- #43,238
- “hampel” frequency rank
- 73358
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Häme | hampel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Spott mit starkem Anteil an Schadenfreude; zynische Polemik | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hampeln |
Where the eye mixes Häme and hampel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Häme runs 4 letters (CVCV) against hampel's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Häme with hampel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Häme is [ˈhɛːmə] while hampel is [ˈhampl̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Häme is recorded at frequency rank #30,120, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛːmə]. hampel is at rank #43,238, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhampl̩].
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 73358, this pair ranks #362,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Häme vs hampel
Shared letters: ehm. Private to "Häme": ä. Private to "hampel": alp.
"Häme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hampel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hampel ← ahmpel · hamepl · hammpel · hampell · hample · hamppel · hapmel · hhampel
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Häme" and "hampel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Häme" vs "hampel" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Häme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hampel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Häme" and "hampel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs Häme". 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 #362,541 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.