härtevshassteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“härte” and “hasste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,738
“härte” frequency rank
#27,765
“hasste” frequency rank
37503
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature härte hasste
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs härten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hassen

Where the eye mixes härte and hasste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
härte
6 ch
hasste

Look-alike desk: härte vs hasste

A purely visual mix-up. härte ([ˈhɛʁtə]) and hasste ([ˈhastə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

härte is recorded at frequency rank #9,738, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛʁtə]. 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 37503, this pair ranks #1,588,499 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of härte vs hasste

Shared letters: eht. Private to "härte": . Private to "hasste": as.

"härte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hasste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hassteahsste · hasset · hasstte · hastse · haßte · hhasste · hsaste

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "härte" for "hasste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛʁtə] versus [ˈhastə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "härte" or "hasste"?
"härte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,738 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.

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 "härte" 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 #1,588,499 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "härte" 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 #1,588,499 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