Which to use
“hatten” and “hüten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #278
- “hatten” frequency rank
- #16,182
- “hüten” frequency rank
- 16460
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hatten | hüten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs haben | aufpassen auf, wobei meist Tiere, aber auch Kinder gemeint sind |
Where the eye mixes hatten and hüten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hatten vs hüten
A purely visual mix-up. hatten ([ˈhatn̩]) and hüten ([ˈhyːtn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hatten is recorded at frequency rank #278, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhatn̩]. hüten is at rank #16,182, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhyːtn̩].
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 16460, this pair ranks #1,935,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hatten vs hüten
Shared letters: ehnt. Private to "hatten": a. Private to "hüten": ü.
"hatten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hüten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hatten ← ahtten · haten · hatetn · hattenn · hattne · hhatten · htaten
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hatten" and "hüten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "hatten" or "hüten" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hatten" and "hüten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hatten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hüten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,935,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hatten" and "hüten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Häuten vs hüten". 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 #1,935,666 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.