Which to use
“Hände” is a noun and “hatte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,453
- “Hände” frequency rank
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- 1544
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hände | hatte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hand | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Hände and hatte apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hände is [ˈhɛndə] while hatte is [ˈhatə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hände is recorded at frequency rank #1,453, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛndə]. hatte is at rank #91, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə].
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 1544, this pair ranks #2,004,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hände vs hatte
Shared letters: eh. Private to "Hände": dnä. Private to "hatte": at.
"Hände" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hatte ← ahtte · hate · hatet · hhatte · htate
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Hände" and "hatte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Hände" or "hatte"?
Remembering Hände vs hatte
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Hände”; for a verb, it's “hatte”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Hände” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable