HausfrauvsHausfrauenConfusable pair

Which to use

“Hausfrau” and “Hausfrauen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,448
“Hausfrau” frequency rank
#20,612
“Hausfrauen” frequency rank
32060
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hausfrau Hausfrauen
Definition ihren eigenen Haushalt führende und besorgende Frau Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hausfrau

Where the eye mixes Hausfrau and Hausfrauen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Hausfrau runs 8 letters (CVVCCCVV) against Hausfrauen's 10 (CVVCCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Hausfrau
10 ch
Hausfrauen

Visual trap between Hausfrau and Hausfrauen

A purely visual mix-up. Hausfrau ([ˈhaʊ̯sˌfʁaʊ̯]) and Hausfrauen ([ˈhaʊ̯sˌfʁaʊ̯ən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Hausfrau” sits inside “Hausfrauen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hausfrau is recorded at frequency rank #11,448, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaʊ̯sˌfʁaʊ̯]. Hausfrauen is at rank #20,612, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaʊ̯sˌfʁaʊ̯ən].

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 32060, this pair ranks #1,715,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hausfrau vs Hausfrauen

Shared letters: afhrsu. Private to "Hausfrau": -. Private to "Hausfrauen": en.

"Hausfrau" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVV  ·  "Hausfrauen" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hausfrau ← ahusfrau · hasufrau · haufsrau · hausfaru · hausffrau · hausfrrau · hausfrua · hausrfau
  • Hausfrauen ← ahusfrauen · hasufrauen · haufsrauen · hausfaruen · hausffrauen · hausfraeun · hausfrauenn · hausfraune

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hausfrau" for "Hausfrauen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaʊ̯sˌfʁaʊ̯] versus [ˈhaʊ̯sˌfʁaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Hausfrau" or "Hausfrauen" show up more?
"Hausfrau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,448 in our German list, against #20,612 for "Hausfrauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hausfrau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hausfrauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,715,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hausfrau" and "Hausfrauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hausfrau vs Hausrat". 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 #1,715,504 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list