Which to use
“holde” and “holden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,352
- “holde” frequency rank
- #27,353
- “holden” frequency rank
- 72705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | holde | holden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hold |
Where the eye mixes holde and holden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. holde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against holden's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses holde with holden
A purely visual mix-up. holde ([ˈhɔldə]) and holden ([ˈhɔldn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “holde” sits inside “holden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
holde is recorded at frequency rank #45,352, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldə]. holden is at rank #27,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔldn̩].
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 72705, this pair ranks #380,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of holde vs holden
Shared letters: dehlo. Private to "holde": -. Private to "holden": n.
"holde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "holden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "holde" for "holden" ever safe?
Frequency check: "holde" vs "holden" - 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 "holde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "holde" and "holden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hola vs holde". 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 #380,737 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.