Which to use
“Hase” is a noun and “hau” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,295
- “Hase” frequency rank
- #7,064
- “hau” frequency rank
- 17359
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hase | hau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Säugetier mit langen Ohren aus der Gattung Lepus, speziell der Feldhase | 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs hauen |
Where the eye mixes Hase and hau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Hase with hau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hase is [ˈhaːzə] while hau is [haʊ̯]. 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 17359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hase is recorded at frequency rank #10,295, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːzə]. hau is at rank #7,064, tagged as averb, pronounced [haʊ̯].
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 17359, this pair ranks #1,928,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hase vs hau
Shared letters: ah. Private to "Hase": es. Private to "hau": u.
"Hase" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Hase ← ahse · haes · hhase · hsae
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Hase" and "hau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Hase" or "hau" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Hase" and "hau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,928,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hase" and "hau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs Hase". 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 #1,928,077 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.