Which to use
“hatte” and “holte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- #4,359
- “holte” frequency rank
- 4450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatte | holte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs holen |
Where the eye mixes hatte and holte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hatte vs holte
A purely visual mix-up. hatte ([ˈhatə]) and holte ([ˈhoːltə]) 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 4450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatte is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə]. holte is at rank #4,359, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːltə].
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 4450, this pair ranks #1,997,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hatte vs holte
Shared letters: eht. Private to "hatte": a. Private to "holte": lo.
"hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "holte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hatte" and "holte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hatte" vs "holte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hatte" and "holte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hatte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,997,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatte" and "holte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hola vs holte". 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 #1,997,691 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.