HänselvsHasenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Hänsel is a name, Hasen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Hänsel” is a name and “Hasen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,709
“Hänsel” frequency rank
#10,487
“Hasen” frequency rank
39196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hänsel Hasen
Definition männlicher Vorname Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Hase

Where the eye mixes Hänsel and Hasen

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

6 ch
Hänsel
5 ch
Hasen

Look-alike desk: Hänsel vs Hasen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hänsel is [ˈhɛnzl̩] while Hasen is [ˈhaːzn̩]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hänsel is recorded at frequency rank #28,709, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈhɛnzl̩]. Hasen is at rank #10,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːzn̩].

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 39196, this pair ranks #1,543,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hänsel vs Hasen

Shared letters: ehns. Private to "Hänsel": lä. Private to "Hasen": a.

"Hänsel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hasen ← ahsen · haesn · hasenn · hasne · hhasen · hsaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hänsel" for "Hasen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hänsel" is a name and "Hasen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Hänsel" or "Hasen" show up more?
"Hasen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,487 in our German list, against #28,709 for "Hänsel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hänsel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hasen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,543,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hänsel" and "Hasen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hänsel vs Hasser". 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 #1,543,397 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