verhaltevsverhärtetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“verhalte” and “verhärtet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,909
“verhalte” frequency rank
#49,345
“verhärtet” frequency rank
78254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhalte verhärtet
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhalten 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhärten

Where the eye mixes verhalte and verhärtet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
verhalte
9 ch
verhärtet

Look-alike desk: verhalte vs verhärtet

A purely visual mix-up. verhalte ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhalte is recorded at frequency rank #28,909, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə]. 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 78254, this pair ranks #242,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verhalte vs verhärtet

Shared letters: ehrtv. Private to "verhalte": al. Private to "verhärtet": ä.

"verhalte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "verhärtet" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verhalteevrhalte · vehralte · verahlte · verhalet · verhallte · verhaltte · verhatle · verhhalte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verhalte" and "verhärtet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛʁtət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verhalte" or "verhärtet" show up more?
"verhalte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,909 in our German list, against #49,345 for "verhärtet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verhalte" 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 #242,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verhalte" 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 #242,427 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list