Which to use
“verhaften” is a verb and “verhassten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,752
- “verhaften” frequency rank
- #43,582
- “verhassten” frequency rank
- 63334
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhaften | verhassten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in Haft, in Gewahrsam nehmen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verhasst |
Where the eye mixes verhaften and verhassten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verhaften runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verhassten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verhaften and verhassten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhaften is [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩] while verhassten is [fɛɐ̯ˈhastn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63334, 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]. verhassten is at rank #43,582, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhastn̩].
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 63334, this pair ranks #680,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhaften vs verhassten
Shared letters: aehnrtv. Private to "verhaften": f. Private to "verhassten": s.
"verhaften" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhassten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verhaften ← evrhaften · vehraften · verahften · verhafetn · verhafften · verhaftenn · verhaftne · verhaftten
- verhassten ← evrhassten · vehrassten · verahssten · verhassetn · verhasstenn · verhasstne · verhasstten · verhasten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verhaften" for "verhassten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verhaften" or "verhassten" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "verhassten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #680,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhaften" and "verhassten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhängten vs verhassten". 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 #680,409 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.