VorhaltenvsvorhatteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Vorhalten is a noun, vorhatte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Vorhalten” is a noun and “vorhatte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,411
“Vorhalten” frequency rank
#45,674
“vorhatte” frequency rank
75085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vorhalten vorhatte
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vorhalt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs vorhaben

Where the eye mixes Vorhalten and vorhatte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Vorhalten runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against vorhatte's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Vorhalten
8 ch
vorhatte

Look-alike desk: Vorhalten vs vorhatte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vorhalten is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhaltn̩] while vorhatte is [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhatə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vorhalten is recorded at frequency rank #29,411, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhaltn̩]. vorhatte is at rank #45,674, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌhatə].

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 75085, this pair ranks #316,803 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Vorhalten vs vorhatte

Shared letters: aehortv. Private to "Vorhalten": ln. Private to "vorhatte": -.

"Vorhalten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vorhatte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vorhalten ← ovrhalten · vohralten · vorahlten · vorhaletn · vorhallten · vorhaltenn · vorhaltne · vorhaltten
  • vorhatte ← ovrhatte · vohratte · vorahtte · vorhate · vorhatet · vorhhatte · vorhtate · vorrhatte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vorhalten" for "vorhatte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vorhalten" is a noun and "vorhatte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Vorhalten" vs "vorhatte" - which ranks higher?
"Vorhalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,411 in our German list, against #45,674 for "vorhatte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Vorhalten" and "vorhatte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vorhatte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #316,803 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vorhalten" and "vorhatte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vorhalle vs vorhatte". 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 #316,803 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