Which to use
“hatte” and “hegte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- #48,210
- “hegte” frequency rank
- 48301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatte | hegte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hegen |
Where the eye mixes hatte and hegte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hatte and hegte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses hatte with hegte
A purely visual mix-up. hatte ([ˈhatə]) and hegte ([ˈheːktə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatte is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə]. hegte is at rank #48,210, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈheːktə].
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 48301, this pair ranks #1,253,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hatte vs hegte
Shared letters: eht. Private to "hatte": a. Private to "hegte": g.
"hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hegte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hatte" and "hegte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "hatte" or "hegte" show up more?
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 "hegte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,253,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatte" and "hegte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs Hengste". 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 #1,253,598 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.