Which to use
“hatte” and “hatten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- #278
- “hatten” frequency rank
- 369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatte | hatten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs haben |
Where the eye mixes hatte and hatten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hatte and hatten
A purely visual mix-up. hatte ([ˈhatə]) and hatten ([ˈhatn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “hatte” sits inside “hatten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatte is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə]. hatten is at rank #278, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhatn̩].
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 369, this pair ranks #2,005,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hatte vs hatten
Shared letters: aeht. Private to "hatte": -. Private to "hatten": n.
"hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hatte" and "hatten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hatte" or "hatten"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hatte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hatten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatte" and "hatten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs hatte". 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 #2,005,934 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.