Which to use
“zuhalten” is a verb and “Zuhälter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,970
- “zuhalten” frequency rank
- #28,957
- “Zuhälter” frequency rank
- 71927
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zuhalten | Zuhälter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dafür sorgen, dass etwas geschlossen bleibt | eine Person, die von der Prostitution einer oder mehrerer Frauen (oder Männer) lebt und die Betroffenen dabei ausbeutet |
Where the eye mixes zuhalten and Zuhälter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. zuhalten and Zuhälter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses zuhalten with Zuhälter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zuhalten is [ˈt͡suːˌhaltn̩] while Zuhälter is [ˈt͡suːˌhɛltɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zuhalten is recorded at frequency rank #42,970, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌhaltn̩]. Zuhälter is at rank #28,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡suːˌhɛltɐ].
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 71927, this pair ranks #402,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of zuhalten vs Zuhälter
Shared letters: ehltuz. Private to "zuhalten": an. Private to "Zuhälter": rä.
"zuhalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "Zuhälter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- zuhalten ← uzhalten · zhualten · zuahlten · zuhaletn · zuhallten · zuhaltenn · zuhaltne · zuhaltten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "zuhalten" for "Zuhälter" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "zuhalten" or "Zuhälter" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "zuhalten" and "Zuhälter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zuhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Zuhälter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zuhalten" and "Zuhälter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zuhalten vs zulasten". 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 #402,772 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.