Which to use
“verhaften” and “verharren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,752
- “verhaften” frequency rank
- #34,434
- “verharren” frequency rank
- 54186
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhaften | verharren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in Haft, in Gewahrsam nehmen | seinen Zustand / seine Stellung nicht ändern |
Where the eye mixes verhaften and verharren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verhaften and verharren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verhaften vs verharren
A purely visual mix-up. verhaften ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]) and verharren ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaʁən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54186, 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]. verharren is at rank #34,434, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaʁən].
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 54186, this pair ranks #1,028,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhaften vs verharren
Shared letters: aehnrv. Private to "verhaften": ft. Private to "verharren": -.
"verhaften" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verharren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verhaften" and "verharren" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "verhaften" vs "verharren" - which ranks higher?
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 "verharren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,028,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhaften" and "verharren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verharren vs verworren". 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 #1,028,793 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.