hastvshatTell them apart

Which to use

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

#165
“hast” frequency rank
#33
“hat” frequency rank
198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hast hat
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs haben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs haben

Where the eye mixes hast and hat

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

4 ch
hast
3 ch
hat

Look-alike desk: hast vs hat

A purely visual mix-up. hast ([hast]) 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 198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hast is recorded at frequency rank #165, classified as averb, pronounced [hast]. 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 198, this pair ranks #2,006,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hast vs hat

Shared letters: aht. Private to "hast": s. Private to "hat": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hastahst · hastt · hhast · hsat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hast" and "hat" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hast] versus [hat]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hast" or "hat"?
"hat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33 in our German list, against #165 for "hast". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "hast" and "hat" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hast" 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 #2,006,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hast" and "hat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hast 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 #2,006,162 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