Which to use
“verhaften” and “verhalte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,752
- “verhaften” frequency rank
- #28,909
- “verhalte” frequency rank
- 48661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhaften | verhalte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in Haft, in Gewahrsam nehmen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhalten |
Where the eye mixes verhaften and verhalte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verhaften runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verhalte's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verhaften vs verhalte
A purely visual mix-up. verhaften ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]) and verhalte ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə]) 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 48661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verhaften is recorded at frequency rank #19,752, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]. verhalte is at rank #28,909, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə].
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 48661, this pair ranks #1,240,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhaften vs verhalte
Shared letters: aehrtv. Private to "verhaften": fn. Private to "verhalte": l.
"verhaften" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhalte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verhaften" and "verhalte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "verhaften" or "verhalte"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verhaften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhalte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,240,297 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhaften" and "verhalte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhalte vs verhärtet". 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 #1,240,297 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.