HamstervshassteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Hamster is a noun, hasste is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hamster” is a noun and “hasste” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,638
“Hamster” frequency rank
#27,765
“hasste” frequency rank
49403
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hamster hasste
Definition maus- (Zwerghamster) bis fast kaninchengroßes (Feldhamster), dämmerungsaktives Nagetier, mit dichtem Fell und kurzem bis stummelartigem Schwanz (Familie Cricetidae) 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hassen

Where the eye mixes Hamster and hasste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Hamster
6 ch
hasste

Visual trap between Hamster and hasste

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hamster is [ˈhamstɐ] while hasste is [ˈhastə]. 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 49403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hamster is recorded at frequency rank #21,638, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhamstɐ]. hasste is at rank #27,765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhastə].

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 49403, this pair ranks #1,212,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hamster vs hasste

Shared letters: aehst. Private to "Hamster": mr. Private to "hasste": -.

"Hamster" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "hasste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hamsterahmster · hammster · hamsetr · hamsster · hamsterr · hamstre · hamstter · hamtser
  • hassteahsste · hasset · hasstte · hastse · haßte · hhasste · hsaste

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hamster" for "hasste" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hamster" is a noun and "hasste" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hamster" or "hasste"?
"Hamster" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,638 in our German list, against #27,765 for "hasste". 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 "Hamster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hasste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,212,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hamster" and "hasste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hasser vs hasste". 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 #1,212,862 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