Which to use
“Häme” is a noun and “hau” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,120
- “Häme” frequency rank
- #7,064
- “hau” frequency rank
- 37184
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Häme | hau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Spott mit starkem Anteil an Schadenfreude; zynische Polemik | 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs hauen |
Where the eye mixes Häme and hau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between Häme and hau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Häme is [ˈhɛːmə] while hau is [haʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 37184, 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]. hau is at rank #7,064, tagged as averb, pronounced [haʊ̯].
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 37184, this pair ranks #1,596,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Häme vs hau
Shared letters: h. Private to "Häme": emä. Private to "hau": au.
"Häme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Häme" for "hau" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Häme" or "hau" show up more?
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 "hau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,596,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Häme" and "hau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs Häme". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,596,698 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.