Which to use
“verhaften” and “verhärtet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,752
- “verhaften” frequency rank
- #49,345
- “verhärtet” frequency rank
- 69097
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhaften | verhärtet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in Haft, in Gewahrsam nehmen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhärten |
Where the eye mixes verhaften and verhärtet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between verhaften and verhärtet
A purely visual mix-up. verhaften ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]) and verhärtet ([fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtət]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69097, 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]. verhärtet is at rank #49,345, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtət].
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 69097, this pair ranks #487,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verhaften vs verhärtet
Shared letters: ehrtv. Private to "verhaften": afn. Private to "verhärtet": ä.
"verhaften" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhärtet" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verhaften ← evrhaften · vehraften · verahften · verhafetn · verhafften · verhaftenn · verhaftne · verhaftten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verhaften" for "verhärtet" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verhaften" or "verhärtet" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verhaften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhärtet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #487,129 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhaften" and "verhärtet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhaftete 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 #487,129 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.