Which to use
“hatte” and “hetze” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- #9,045
- “hetze” frequency rank
- 9136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatte | hetze |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hetzen |
Where the eye mixes hatte and hetze
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hatte vs hetze
A purely visual mix-up. hatte ([ˈhatə]) and hetze ([ˈhɛt͡sə]) 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 9136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatte is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə]. hetze is at rank #9,045, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɛt͡sə].
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 9136, this pair ranks #1,981,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hatte vs hetze
Shared letters: eht. Private to "hatte": a. Private to "hetze": z.
"hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hetze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hatte" and "hetze" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hatte" or "hetze"?
Useful next steps
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 "hetze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,981,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatte" and "hetze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs hetze". 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 #1,981,316 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.