hashvshatTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,335
“hash” frequency rank
#33
“hat” frequency rank
45368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hash hat
Definition Fleisch oder Gemüse hacken, Fleisch zu Hackfleisch verarbeiten 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs haben

Where the eye mixes hash and hat

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
hash
3 ch
hat

Why the eye confuses hash with hat

A purely visual mix-up. hash ([hæʃ]) and hat ([hat]) 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 45368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hash is recorded at frequency rank #45,335, classified as averb, pronounced [hæʃ]. hat is at rank #33, tagged as averb, pronounced [hat].

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 45368, this pair ranks #1,355,387 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hash vs hat

Shared letters: ah. Private to "hash": s. Private to "hat": t.

"hash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hat" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hashahsh · hahs · hashh · hassh · hhash · hsah

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hash" for "hat" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([hæʃ] versus [hat]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hash" vs "hat" - which ranks higher?
"hat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33 in our German list, against #45,335 for "hash". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,355,387 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hash" and "hat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hash vs haze". 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 #1,355,387 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