Which to use
“hatten” and “hattet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #278
- “hatten” frequency rank
- #13,161
- “hattet” frequency rank
- 13439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatten | hattet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs haben | 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs haben |
Where the eye mixes hatten and hattet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hatten and hattet
A purely visual mix-up. hatten ([ˈhatn̩]) and hattet ([ˈhatət]) 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 a single letter - n in “hatten” becomes t in “hattet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatten is recorded at frequency rank #278, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatn̩]. hattet is at rank #13,161, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhatət].
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 13439, this pair ranks #1,957,995 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hatten vs hattet
Shared letters: aeht. Private to "hatten": n. Private to "hattet": -.
"hatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hattet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hatten" for "hattet" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hatten" or "hattet" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hatten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hattet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,995 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatten" and "hattet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hattet vs Häuten". 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 #1,957,995 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.