Which to use
“hatte” and “hörte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #91
- “hatte” frequency rank
- #3,195
- “hörte” frequency rank
- 3286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatte | hörte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs hören |
Where the eye mixes hatte and hörte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hatte vs hörte
A purely visual mix-up. hatte ([ˈhatə]) and hörte ([ˈhøːɐ̯tə]) 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 3286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatte is recorded at frequency rank #91, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatə]. hörte is at rank #3,195, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhøːɐ̯tə].
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 3286, this pair ranks #2,000,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hatte vs hörte
Shared letters: eht. Private to "hatte": a. Private to "hörte": rö.
"hatte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hörte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hatte ← ahtte · hate · hatet · hhatte · htate
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hatte" and "hörte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "hatte" vs "hörte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hatte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hörte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,000,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatte" and "hörte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs hörte". 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 #2,000,533 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.