Which to use
“harren” and “härten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,956
- “harren” frequency rank
- #47,493
- “härten” frequency rank
- 96449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | harren | härten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (hoffend) auf etwas oder jemanden warten | transitiv: |
Where the eye mixes harren and härten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. harren and härten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: harren vs härten
A purely visual mix-up. harren ([ˈhaʁən]) and härten ([ˈhɛʁtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 96449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
harren is recorded at frequency rank #48,956, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhaʁən]. härten is at rank #47,493, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛʁtn̩].
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 96449, this pair ranks #7,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of harren vs härten
Shared letters: ehnr. Private to "harren": a. Private to "härten": tä.
"harren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "härten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- harren ← ahrren · harern · harrenn · harrne · hharren · hraren
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "harren" and "härten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "harren" or "härten"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "harren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "härten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "harren" and "härten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harren vs Häuten". 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 #7,280 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.